Saturday, April 6
Los Angeles, CA
5:00 PM
UCLA
20-4,9-1MPSF
3
vs
2
Grand Canyon
20-4,8-2MPSF
1
2
3
4
5
F
Grand Canyon
26
22
23
25
8
2
UCLA
24
25
25
18
15
3
Sean McQuiggan celebrates a kill
Photo by: Lillie Yazdi
MVB Takes Fifth to Move into First Place
April 06, 2024 | Men's Volleyball
The No. 2 UCLA men's volleyball team (20-4, 9-1) defeated No. 3 Grand Canyon (20-4, 8-2) in five sets and moved into the top spot in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in a contest played on Saturday evening in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Scores of the match were 24-26, 25-22, 25-23, 18-25, 15-8. Both teams have two matches left in the regular season next week with UCLA squaring off with Concordia-Irvine and GCU hosting Pepperdine in Phoenix. The Bruin win, its ninth straight overall on the season, marked its 17th straight regular-season home MPSF victory.
Merrick McHenry led the attack with 14 kills (.522) while hitting over .400 for the 21st straight contest. Ethan Champlin recorded his team-high 12th double-digit kill night of the season with 12. Three aces each by McHenry and Grant Sloane helped UCLA enjoy a 10-2 edge at the service line. Sean McQuiggan supplied seven kills and topped the team with six blocks. GCU registered the second-highest opponent hitting percentage of the season at .377.
Consecutive kills by Champlin put UCLA up 5-3 to begin set one. Three straight aces from Sloane upped the margin to 11-7. A pair of McHenry kills put UCLA in front 15-12 and then 17-14. Champlin's swing made it 19-16. GCU rallied to even up the score at 21-all. A McHenry kill put UCLA ahead by 22-21, but the next two points went to GCU. A service error and a McHenry ace leveled the score at 24. A Bruin service error and a GCU kill ended the set at 24-26 for the visitors.
The Bruins jumped out to a 6-3 edge to begin set two after a block solo by McQuiggan. Robinson's swing made it 9-5 before the 'Lopes rallied to tie the score at 10 with back-to-back blocks providing the last two points in the run. GCU kept the momentum and pulled ahead 13-15. McHenry's spike pulled UCLA within one at 17-18. Zach Rama's ace tied the score at 19-all. Champlin's kill put UCLA up 22-21. GCU evened the score at 22, but a service error followed. A GCU attack error handed UCLA set point and Champlin hit off hands for the winner at 25-22.
Rama's kill put UCLA ahead 5-2 to start set three. An ace off the tape from Rowan upped the margin to 9-5. Champlin's kill made it 10-7. Another spike by Rama handed UCLA a 14-12 margin. GCU rallied to even the score at 15-all. McQuiggan's paint brush spike pushed the Bruins in front by one at 18-17. Rama / McQuiggan followed with a block for a two-point advantage. Rama then delivered from the back row for 22-20 and connected again to put UCLA at set point, 24-21. GCU saved two set points, but Rama's cross court kill ended the frame at 25-23.
Grand Canyon surged out to a 4-9 lead to begin set four, taking advantage of multiple Bruin errors. After McHenry's kill, UCLA trailed 6-12. Ido David's smash made it 9-16. Luca Curci's swing left UCLA down 10-18. A McQuiggan block and a Champlin kill helped the Bruins close to17-23. However, two kills later Grand Canyon won the set at 18-25.
Kills by McHenry and David helped UCLA grab the early momentum in the deciding set and a 4-3 lead. The next two points belonged the GCU. A service error evened the score at five and Champlin's tip kill put UCLA into the lead. McHenry followed with an ace for a 7-5 edge to begin a run at the service line . McQuiggan's block and McHenry's ace resulted in a 9-5 UCLA edge. The swings kept coming as David put one down for a 10-5 lead. Consecutive kills by McQuiggan staked the Bruins to a 12-6 advantage. A series of service errors put UCLA at set point and Robinson ended the match with a kill for 15-8.
Merrick McHenry led the attack with 14 kills (.522) while hitting over .400 for the 21st straight contest. Ethan Champlin recorded his team-high 12th double-digit kill night of the season with 12. Three aces each by McHenry and Grant Sloane helped UCLA enjoy a 10-2 edge at the service line. Sean McQuiggan supplied seven kills and topped the team with six blocks. GCU registered the second-highest opponent hitting percentage of the season at .377.
Consecutive kills by Champlin put UCLA up 5-3 to begin set one. Three straight aces from Sloane upped the margin to 11-7. A pair of McHenry kills put UCLA in front 15-12 and then 17-14. Champlin's swing made it 19-16. GCU rallied to even up the score at 21-all. A McHenry kill put UCLA ahead by 22-21, but the next two points went to GCU. A service error and a McHenry ace leveled the score at 24. A Bruin service error and a GCU kill ended the set at 24-26 for the visitors.
The Bruins jumped out to a 6-3 edge to begin set two after a block solo by McQuiggan. Robinson's swing made it 9-5 before the 'Lopes rallied to tie the score at 10 with back-to-back blocks providing the last two points in the run. GCU kept the momentum and pulled ahead 13-15. McHenry's spike pulled UCLA within one at 17-18. Zach Rama's ace tied the score at 19-all. Champlin's kill put UCLA up 22-21. GCU evened the score at 22, but a service error followed. A GCU attack error handed UCLA set point and Champlin hit off hands for the winner at 25-22.
Rama's kill put UCLA ahead 5-2 to start set three. An ace off the tape from Rowan upped the margin to 9-5. Champlin's kill made it 10-7. Another spike by Rama handed UCLA a 14-12 margin. GCU rallied to even the score at 15-all. McQuiggan's paint brush spike pushed the Bruins in front by one at 18-17. Rama / McQuiggan followed with a block for a two-point advantage. Rama then delivered from the back row for 22-20 and connected again to put UCLA at set point, 24-21. GCU saved two set points, but Rama's cross court kill ended the frame at 25-23.
Grand Canyon surged out to a 4-9 lead to begin set four, taking advantage of multiple Bruin errors. After McHenry's kill, UCLA trailed 6-12. Ido David's smash made it 9-16. Luca Curci's swing left UCLA down 10-18. A McQuiggan block and a Champlin kill helped the Bruins close to17-23. However, two kills later Grand Canyon won the set at 18-25.
Kills by McHenry and David helped UCLA grab the early momentum in the deciding set and a 4-3 lead. The next two points belonged the GCU. A service error evened the score at five and Champlin's tip kill put UCLA into the lead. McHenry followed with an ace for a 7-5 edge to begin a run at the service line . McQuiggan's block and McHenry's ace resulted in a 9-5 UCLA edge. The swings kept coming as David put one down for a 10-5 lead. Consecutive kills by McQuiggan staked the Bruins to a 12-6 advantage. A series of service errors put UCLA at set point and Robinson ended the match with a kill for 15-8.
Team Stats
GCU
UCLA
Kills
62
64
Errors
16
21
Attempts
122
138
Hitting %
.377
.312
Points
74.0
82.0
Assists
53
56
Aces
2
10
Blocks
10
8
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
14
Aces
3
Blocks
2
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
8
Aces
3
Blocks
0
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
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