MERCED, Calif. – The University of California, Merced men's volleyball team fell in straight sets to No. 1 UCLA on Thursday night inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium, 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-17).

UCLA improved to 22-1 overall and 9-1 in the MPSF. UC Merced (4-15, 1-10) played UCLA for the first time ever, across all sports.

Kaleb Cole led the Bobcats with seven kills and two blocks.

Jozef Lingenfelter added six kills, four digs, and a solo block. He passed both Jacob Shelton and Samuel Hala'ufia for seventh in program history with 417 career kills. Also of note, Lingenfelter tied Shelton for fifth in program history with 38 career solo blocks.

Mason Stokes recorded five kills and a block, while Max Niederberger had three kills on three attempts to go along with two blocks.

Joel Toves and Toby Miller tallied 13 assists and ten assists, respectively. Miller also had three digs and a kill, and the grad student passed Sebas Moreno for second all-time in program history with 302 career sets played.

Pomaikainokeakua Kahaulelio collected five digs.

UC Merced stayed within striking distance midway through first set, trailing 15-11 after a Cole kill. However, UCLA pulled away from there with a 10-4 set ending run to go up 1-0 in the match. UCLA put down six kills and a service ace in its burst at the end.

The Bobcats started the second set with back-to-back kills from Stokes and Lingenfelter, and UC Merced would lead 5-2 shortly after. However tied 7-7, UCLA created separation with an 8-0 explosion to double up the Bobcats and lead 14-7. The Bobcats battled back to pull within four points, 18-14 after another Cole kill. The deficit bounced between four and six points before a 3-0 Bobcat spurt late highlighted by a Lingenfelter solo block made it 24-21 in favor of UCLA. UCLA would score set point with a kill one rally later.

Set three had three early ties and the Bobcats trailed by just a point at 11-10. UCLA made it 12-10 with a kill before ripping back-to-back service aces. The Bruins created more separation and got to 20 points while leading 20-14, pulling away for a 25-17 set three win.

UCLA earned the sweep with a .448 hitting percentage. Zach Rama and Sean Kelly led the Bruins with seven kills each. Kelly hit 1.000. Andrew Rowan dished out 17 assists.

UC Merced will host No. 1 UCLA again tomorrow night, Friday, April 10, at 6:00pm inside the Joseph Edward Gallo Gymnasium.