Rich Schmitt/Staff Photographer
The NCAA volleyball careers of Palisadians Jackson Bantle and Hagen Smith came to an end Saturday night when UCLA lost to UC Irvine in four sets in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinals at Bren Center.
Bantle, a senior opposite hitter/libero, had two digs and Smith, a senior setter/opposite hitter, had two kills, 18 assists and three digs for the sixth-ranked Bruins (17-10) against the fifth-ranked Anteaters (20-6).
Bantle, a geography/environmental studies major, played in 91 sets this season, finishing with 19 kills, 20 assists, eight aces, 114 digs and four block assists. Smith, also a geography/environmental studies major, played in 93 sets with 89 kills, 646 assists, 15 aces, 129 digs and 52 total blocks.
Also seeing his season come to an end Saturday was USC sophomore libero Matt Douglas, who had 12 digs and two assists in the 10th-ranked Trojans’ four-set MPSF quarterfinal loss at top-ranked Long Beach State.
A Huntington resident, Douglas played in 100 sets, totaling 211 digs, one kill and 54 assists.
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