The University of Hawai'i men's volleyball team wasted a career-best 28 kills by freshman Steven Hunt yesterday when it lost in five sets to host UCLA at Westwood, Calif.

Thomas Amberg had 17 kills on .593 hitting to help the Bruins win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match, 30-27, 30-22, 24-30, 25-30, 15-13.

Jack Polales added 16 kills, Nick Vogel 15 and Sean O'Malley 14 for UCLA, which improved to 11-13 overall and 7-10 in the MPSF.

Josh Walker contributed 10 kills and Nejc Zemljak had 63 assists for the Warriors (6-16, 3-14).

Hunt, playing in his first match since suffering a fractured right thumb in February, hit .512 and added six digs and four blocks.

After losing the first two sets, Hawaii amassed 17 kills and hit .312 to win the third set, then got 18 kills on .297 hitting to send the match to a fifth set.

Both teams had their poorest hitting performance in the fifth set — .118 by UH, .188 by UCLA — that was tied 12-12 before the Bruins edged away.

The Warriors hit .257 and had 13.5 blocks for the match, while the Bruins hit .327 and had 17.5 blocks.

The teams will play again today, starting at 4 p.m. Hawai'i time. The match will be broadcast on ESPN 1420AM.