Saturday, February 24
Provo, UT
6:00 PM

UCLA

12-4,3-1MPSF

3
at
2

Brigham Young

10-6,1-3MPSF

1
2
3
4
5
F
UCLA
25
21
19
25
15
3
BYU
21
25
25
23
10
2
UCLA Men's Volleyball
Photo by: UCLA Athletics

MVB Rallies Past Cougars in Five

February 24, 2024 | Men's Volleyball

The No. 4 UCLA men's volleyball team (12-4, 3-1) rallied behind the play of senior Ethan Champlin to take down No. 8 BYU (10-6, 1-3) in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match played on Saturday night in Provo, Utah before over 5,000 fans. Scores were 25-21, 21-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-10.
 
Champlin, who started the match at libero and switched to outside hitter late in the third set, finished with a match-high tying 14 kills, including six in the final frame. UCLA began its rally with a .652 fourth set hitting percentage with 15 kills and no errors on 23 attempts. Zach Rama, Cooper Robinson and Sean McQuiggan each had two aces in the match. Ido David finished with 11 kills and an ace, which marked the 11th straight match with at least one service winner. Merrick McHenry hit .538 with eight kills for his 13th straight match hitting at least .400. The Bruins will continue MPSF play next Thursday with a match at USC.
 
The Bruins rode McQuiggan's serving run to help move out to a 7-1 first set lead. The Bruins led 11-5 after a kill by David. McHenry's swing put UCLA up 15-9. The Cougars rallied to close to 18-16. Robinson's spike made it 20-16. McQuiggan's second ace of the set pushed the margin to 22-18. Rama finished off the set with a kill for a 25-21 win.
 
UCLA stormed out to a 8-3 lead in set two after Robinson fired off a couple of aces to begin the frame. BYU came right back with eight straight points to go ahead 8-11. A kill by David left UCLA trailing 11-15. Back-to-back aces by Rama narrowed the gap to 17-19. Two Bruin errors put the Cougars back up by four at 17-21. A block by Grant Sloane/McQuiggan was followed by a Cougar error to move UCLA to within one at 20-21. However, four of the next five points went to the Cougars to finish off the set at 21-25.
 
The Cougars went out to a 4-7 advantage to begin set three. A flurry of kills from Rama moved UCLA to within one at 7-8, 9-10 and then 10-11. BYU then tallied three straight points of its own for an 11-14 lead. A Cougar service error put UCLA down 14-17. David's swing made it 16-21. Robinson's spike left UCLA down 18-23. BYU ended the set with a 19-25 win.
 
Champlin scored the initial point of set four with the first of eight kills during the frame. BYU battled back to even the score at 6-all. McHenry's swing pushed UCLA in front 10-8. The Cougars came right back to even the score at 10. A series of service errors by both teams left UCLA up 15-13 at the media timeout. Champlin followed up with a couple of kills on the way to a 17-14 edge. The third of three straight Champlin attack winners upped the margin to 22-18. The Cougars tallied the next three points to narrow the gap to 22-21. David's kill put UCLA up 24-22. A BYU service error ended the set at 25-23.
 
A Champlin spike helped UCLA take a 5-3 lead in the fifth set. A Guy Genis and Andrew Rowan block put UCLA ahead 6-4. Two straight kills by Champlin made it 9-6 for the Bruins. McHenry's spike was good for an 11-7 advantage. Champlin hit off hands, after a terrific set by David Flores, for a 12-8 lead. A back row Champlin smash made it 14-9. Sloane's swing produced a 15-10 win.

 
 

Team Stats

UCLA
BYU
Kills
56
45
Errors
19
19
Attempts
125
131
Hitting %
.296
.198
Points
73.5
54.5
Assists
53
42
Aces
8
3
Blocks
9.5
6.5

Game Leaders

Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
9
Aces
2
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
3

Players Mentioned

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