VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball team dropped a non-conference match to the UCLA Bruins, the fifth-ranked team in NCAA Div. I-II, in straight sets (25-19, 25-15, 25-14) Sunday at Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles. The Bruins also captured a fourth set by a 25-15 count.
 
UBC arrived in southern California earlier on Sunday to start a three-game series against UCLA and Pepperdine, the No. 11 team in the NCAA's top tier.
 
Third-year outside hitter Irvan Brar (Surrey, B.C.) paced the UBC offence with six kills today, while senior setter Milan Nikic (Calgary), second-year middle Joel Regehr (Courtenay, B.C.) and third-year outside hitter Mat Guidi (Coquitlam, B.C.) were all next with four. Regehr led the team with a .500 hitting percentage and Nikic had 14 assists and two service aces.
 
First-year outside hitter Jacob Smith (White Rock, B.C.) had the most digs for UBC on Sunday with four.
 
As a team, UBC hit .074 for the contest, while UCLA hit .518 for the four sets.



The Thunderbirds and Bruins split the first 14 points of the first set and UBC continued to stayed close, down 16-13 at the technical timeout, but the visitors couldn't get any closer. 

The hosts jumped out to an 11-3 lead in the second set and cruised to the victory. UCLA closed out the third set on a 10-4 run after going ahead 15-10. The fourth set played out in a similar fashion. The Bruins were ahead 15-12 but then went on a 10-3 surge to end the day.

The T-Birds will play at Pepperdine in Malibu, Calif., on Wednesday and Friday, with both matches commencing at 3 p.m.
 
UBC's first Canada West conference games of 2016 will take place Jan. 15-16 against Brandon at War Memorial Gym.
 
- with files from UCLA Sports Information