Saturday, April 15
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
27-2,12-0MPSF
3
vs
1
Pepperdine
16-13,5-7MPSF
1
2
3
4
F
Pepperdine
28
20
16
15
1
UCLA
26
25
25
25
3
UCLA 2023 MVB Seniors
MVB Crashes Waves on Senior Night
April 15, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
The UCLA men's volleyball team (27-2) defeated No. 9 Pepperdine (16-13) on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom in the final regular season contest of the season before over 3,000 fans. Seniors Kyle Vom Steeg, J.R. Norris IV, Cole Ketrzynski and Troy Gooch were each honored before the action. Scores of the match were 26-28, 25-20, 25-16, 25-15. With the win, UCLA finished the MPSF regular-season with a perfect 12-0 record. It marks the first time the Bruins have won the league with an unbeaten record since the 1995 squad went 19-0 on the way to winning the national championship.
UCLA recorded a season-high 18.5 blocks on the night and held the Waves to a .171 attack percentage. Merrick McHenry led the way with 12 blocks, including a career-best 11 block assists. It is the 13th time this season, that UCLA has held an opponent under .200 for a match. This was also the 13th time this season that the Bruins have registered double-digit blocks in a contest. UCLA out aced the Waves six to one with setter Andrew Rowan putting down two more aces, the 17th time in the last 18 matches he has had at least one ace. Ido David led UCLA with three aces. McHenry added a team-best 14 kills and hit .737 to pace a total of four Bruins in double-figure kills. Ethan Champlin totaled 13 kills while Zach Rama equaled his career-high with 12 and David had 11. UCLA hit .419 for the match which was the 15th time this season it has exceeded the .400 mark.
The last time the Bruins won at least 27 matches in a season was in 2000 when it went 29-5 on the way to another national title. Next week, UCLA, which earned the No. 1 seed, will advance to the Thursday's semifinal round at the MPSF Tournament being held at Stanford. The Bruins will play the lowest seed remaining after Wednesday's quarterfinal play at 4:30 p.m.
In set one, UCLA used early swings from David to take a 7-4 lead. A Champlin kill made it 9-6. Pepperdine rallied to even the score at 10-all. The score was then even at points 11 through 17. The Waves tallied the next two points on kills. Champlin and David answered for the Bruins and tied the score at 19-all. The score stayed tied until 23-all. A Champlin / Guy Genis / Rowan block put UCLA at set point at 24-23. The Waves saved the point with a kill. Champlin's swings then gave UCLA two more looks at set point, at 25-24 ad 26-25. Pepperdine answered with a kill and took advantage of a Bruin service error. Two straight Wave kills followed for a 26-28 win by the visitors.
UCLA went up 5-3 to begin set two before Pepperdine came back to even the score at 7-all. A Rama kill was followed by a David swing and a McHenry block solo for a 10-7 edge. UCLA grew the lead to 15-8 after a McHenry kill. Three more McHenry spikes and the Bruins were up 19-11. Rama's swing put the Bruins ahead 21-14. Bruin errors helped the Waves close to 21-17. A McHenry kill put the Bruin up 23-18. A Wave service error gave UCLA set point, at 24-19. Champlin's kill ended the set at 25-20. The Bruins hit .417 to .167 for Pepperdine.
UCLA moved to a 5-2 lead after a David kill in set three. Rama's swing upped the margin to 9-4. Two straight kills from Norris doubled up the Waves at 12-6. A couple of more Norris smashes expanded the margin to 15-7. Rama's back-to-back kills advanced the score to 18-10. Three straight by the Waves narrowed the gap to 19-13. McHenry's kill put UCLA ahead 21-14. A Norris / Champlin block gave UCLA set point, at 24-13. A Wave service error ended the set at 25-16.
UCLA surged to a 7-2 advantage to start set four. Champlin's kill made it 10-6. Rowan tipped one over for a 14-8 lead. David went down the line for 17-10. A couple of Champlin kills made it 21-11. David's kill finished off the set and match at 25-15.
MPSF Tournament Schedule (all matches at Stanford's Maples Pavilion)
Quarterfinals: Wednesday, April 19
No. 1 Seed UCLA---Bye
No. 2 Seed BYU vs. No. 7 Seed Concordia---3:05 pm
No. 3 Seed Stanford vs. No. 6 Seed USC---5:35 pm
No. 4 Seed Grand Canyon vs. No. 5 Seed Pepperdine---8:05 pm
Semifinals: Thursday, April 20
Lowest Remaining Seed vs. No. 1 Seed UCLA---4:35 pm
Highest-Seeded Quarterfinal Winners---7:05 pm
Championship: Saturday, April 22
Semifinal Winners---6:05 pm
UCLA recorded a season-high 18.5 blocks on the night and held the Waves to a .171 attack percentage. Merrick McHenry led the way with 12 blocks, including a career-best 11 block assists. It is the 13th time this season, that UCLA has held an opponent under .200 for a match. This was also the 13th time this season that the Bruins have registered double-digit blocks in a contest. UCLA out aced the Waves six to one with setter Andrew Rowan putting down two more aces, the 17th time in the last 18 matches he has had at least one ace. Ido David led UCLA with three aces. McHenry added a team-best 14 kills and hit .737 to pace a total of four Bruins in double-figure kills. Ethan Champlin totaled 13 kills while Zach Rama equaled his career-high with 12 and David had 11. UCLA hit .419 for the match which was the 15th time this season it has exceeded the .400 mark.
The last time the Bruins won at least 27 matches in a season was in 2000 when it went 29-5 on the way to another national title. Next week, UCLA, which earned the No. 1 seed, will advance to the Thursday's semifinal round at the MPSF Tournament being held at Stanford. The Bruins will play the lowest seed remaining after Wednesday's quarterfinal play at 4:30 p.m.
In set one, UCLA used early swings from David to take a 7-4 lead. A Champlin kill made it 9-6. Pepperdine rallied to even the score at 10-all. The score was then even at points 11 through 17. The Waves tallied the next two points on kills. Champlin and David answered for the Bruins and tied the score at 19-all. The score stayed tied until 23-all. A Champlin / Guy Genis / Rowan block put UCLA at set point at 24-23. The Waves saved the point with a kill. Champlin's swings then gave UCLA two more looks at set point, at 25-24 ad 26-25. Pepperdine answered with a kill and took advantage of a Bruin service error. Two straight Wave kills followed for a 26-28 win by the visitors.
UCLA went up 5-3 to begin set two before Pepperdine came back to even the score at 7-all. A Rama kill was followed by a David swing and a McHenry block solo for a 10-7 edge. UCLA grew the lead to 15-8 after a McHenry kill. Three more McHenry spikes and the Bruins were up 19-11. Rama's swing put the Bruins ahead 21-14. Bruin errors helped the Waves close to 21-17. A McHenry kill put the Bruin up 23-18. A Wave service error gave UCLA set point, at 24-19. Champlin's kill ended the set at 25-20. The Bruins hit .417 to .167 for Pepperdine.
UCLA moved to a 5-2 lead after a David kill in set three. Rama's swing upped the margin to 9-4. Two straight kills from Norris doubled up the Waves at 12-6. A couple of more Norris smashes expanded the margin to 15-7. Rama's back-to-back kills advanced the score to 18-10. Three straight by the Waves narrowed the gap to 19-13. McHenry's kill put UCLA ahead 21-14. A Norris / Champlin block gave UCLA set point, at 24-13. A Wave service error ended the set at 25-16.
UCLA surged to a 7-2 advantage to start set four. Champlin's kill made it 10-6. Rowan tipped one over for a 14-8 lead. David went down the line for 17-10. A couple of Champlin kills made it 21-11. David's kill finished off the set and match at 25-15.
MPSF Tournament Schedule (all matches at Stanford's Maples Pavilion)
Quarterfinals: Wednesday, April 19
No. 1 Seed UCLA---Bye
No. 2 Seed BYU vs. No. 7 Seed Concordia---3:05 pm
No. 3 Seed Stanford vs. No. 6 Seed USC---5:35 pm
No. 4 Seed Grand Canyon vs. No. 5 Seed Pepperdine---8:05 pm
Semifinals: Thursday, April 20
Lowest Remaining Seed vs. No. 1 Seed UCLA---4:35 pm
Highest-Seeded Quarterfinal Winners---7:05 pm
Championship: Saturday, April 22
Semifinal Winners---6:05 pm
Team Stats
PEP
UCLA
Kills
40
58
Errors
23
14
Attempts
105
105
Hitting %
.162
.419
Points
48.5
82.5
Assists
36
54
Aces
1
6
Blocks
7.5
18.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
12
Kills
13
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/Opp
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballS
/ Men's Volleyball
Opp
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