The third time is supposedly a charm, but for the Bruins on Saturday it was a bad luck charm. The UCLA men’s volleyball team’s inability to win the critical third set led to a 3-1 loss to UC Irvine in the finals of the UCSB/asics Invitational.

“We had a lot of chances against Irvine,” coach Al Scates said. “The third game was crucial, and they won that 35-33. We certainly had a chance to win the third set, and if we won the third set I think we win the (match). In the fourth game … our passing broke down and they started with a 6-1 lead and we played them even the rest of the way, but we just couldn’t get back from that.”

The Bruins (2-1) went on to lose the fourth set 25-18, their largest margin of defeat of all four sets. UCLA had a quick start to the match, jumping out to a 9-2 lead in the first set after scoring six straight points. From that point on, however, the Anteaters (4-0) seemed in control of the match, fueled by their .343-.242 advantage in hitting percentage.

“We out-blocked them, but they out-hit us, which is the most important thing,” Scates said. “Their outside hitters were better than our outside hitters and that was the difference in the entire (match). They out-hit us every game.”

While the outside hitters struggled this match, redshirt senior outside hitter Jeremy Casebeer pointed to their missed opportunities as the main problem.

“We put the hitters in good situations. We just weren’t able to score on them,” he said.

Casebeer led the Bruins, finishing with a team-high 13 kills. Casebeer credited senior setter Kyle Caldwell, who had 42 of the team’s 53 assists, for his success.

“(Caldwell) was hitting really well and passing really well, and we got the ball into the middle then got a lot of one-on-one opportunities and chances to score.”

Despite the tough loss, the Bruins had some positives to take from the game.

Continuing a trend from preseason, the Bruins were a different team with sophomore outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga serving.

“Every time he went back we scored a bunch of points,” Scates said. “He really served great. … We scored more points when he was serving than anybody else.”

Redshirt senior quick hitter Weston Dunlap and Caldwell were both named to the All-Tournament team after strong performances in all three games. Caldwell excelled in assists, while Dunlap, who led the nation in hitting percentage last year, finished with 11 kills and a .529 hitting percentage.

Dunlap said the team, despite its mistakes, was emboldened by playing such a close match against a team Scates believes will “undoubtedly be ranked No. 1.”

“We had a couple unforced errors,” Dunlap said. “We know they’re a good team. It was encouraging that we knew we could definitely beat them.”

Scates shared Dunlap’s optimism, praising the team’s blocking and feeling positive about the season.

“I expect our team to get better as we progress through the season,” he said. “We’ve only had one week of practice. … It’s early season and we hope to get better. I’m glad we’re getting a lot of competition early.”