Saturday, February 10
Los Angeles, CA
6:00 PM

UCLA

9-3,0-0MPSF

3
vs
1

Long Beach State

10-1,0-0Big West

1
2
3
4
F
Long Beach St.
27
29
19
20
1
UCLA
29
27
25
25
3
UCLA Men's Volleyball
Photo by: Lillie Yazdi

MVB Knocks Off No. 1 Beach

February 10, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

The No. 4 UCLA men's volleyball team (9-3) handed top-ranked Long Beach State (10-1) its first loss on the season on Saturday evening in a non-league battle in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom played before over 3,300 fans. It marked the fourth straight season in which the Bruins have defeated the AVCA's top-ranked team -- 2023: March 6 - Hawai'i (3-1) in Fairfax, Va.; 2022: Feb. 19 - vs. Long Beach (3-2) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom; 2021: Feb. 4 at BYU (3-1). Scores of the match were 29-27, 27-29, 25-19, 25-20. UCLA will open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play next Wednesday with a home match against Pepperdine.

Merrick McHenry became UCLA' all-time leader in block solos during the match as he tallied his 45th career stuff to move past Garrett Muagututia (2007-10). Grant Sloane came off the bench to deliver a career-high tying 16 kills while hitting .583 to lead four Bruins in double-digits. Ethan Champlin added 17 digs in his role as libero which is the most by a Bruin since JT Hatch was credited with 16 in a 2016 match against Pepperdine. 
 
In set one, UCLA moved in front 6-5 on a kill by Alex Knight. Ido David's swing made it 10-8 and an ace from David upped the margin to 14-11. Long Beach rallied to even the score at 16-all after a couple of Bruin errors. The score was then even at points 17 through 22. A Beach error put UCLA up 23-22. Sloane followed with a kill for 24-22. Long Beach leveled the score after a service error and a block. Cooper Robinson's swing made it 25-24. After the Beach tied it back up, McHenry's swing hit the line for a 26-25 lead and then he registered another kill for 27-26. The Beach tied it up only to see Knight put two straight balls away for a 29-27 win.
 
Long Beach moved out to a 1-5 lead to begin set two. Genis' kill made it 4-7. Andrew Rowan's kill narrowed the gap to 8-10.A Genis kill, an ace by David and a Knight swing evened the score at 13-all. Robinson's spike tied the score at 17. Two Sloane kills put UCLA up 20-19. Long Beach rallied to tie the score at 23. A Rowan/Genis/Robinson block put UCLA in front 24-23. The Beach then saved four set points before a block and a Bruin attack error ended the set at 27-29 for the visitors.
 
UCLA went up 7-6 in set three after a Sloane kill. However, Long Beach answered with three straight points for 7-9. McHenry's block solo, the 45th of his career, tied the score at 11-all and made him the all-time school leader in the category. UCLA then scored four of the next five points for a 15-12 lead. An ace from Robinson made it 17-13 and a Robinson kill put the score at 20-16. Sloane's swing resulted in a 22-17 margin. Knight's back row kill ended the set at 25-19.
 
Long Beach went up 3-6 to begin set four. A kill by Sloane evened the score at 7-all. UCLA went ahead 10-8 after a Knight kill. A couple of Zach Rama kills made it 14-11. McHenry's smash put UCLA up 16-12 and then at 20-16 following another kill. Sloane's block solo stuff made it 22-18. Knight's swing put UCLA in front 23-19. Genis' kill out of the middle handed UCLA set point at 24-20. A Long Beach attack error ended the set at 25-20.
 

Team Stats

LBSU
UCLA
Kills
51
64
Errors
21
24
Attempts
126
133
Hitting %
.238
.301
Points
63.5
79.0
Assists
48
61
Aces
1
6
Blocks
11.5
9

Game Leaders

Kills
16
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
5
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
3

Players Mentioned

OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/Opp
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
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