Thursday, April 17
Los Angeles, CA
7:30 p.m. PT
UCLA
20-4,10-1MPSF
3
vs
2
No. 5 USC
19-6,7-4MPSF
1
2
3
4
5
F
Southern California
25
22
17
25
11
2
UCLA
22
25
25
23
15
3
No. 2 Bruins Beat No. 5 USC in Five Sets, Clinch MPSF Regular Season Title
April 17, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 2 UCLA men's volleyball program took down No. 5 USC in five sets on Thursday evening inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Set scores on Thursday evening were 22-25, 25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 15-11.
With the five-set win, UCLA improves to 4-0 in five-set matches in 2025. UCLA also improves to 20-4 overall and 10-1 in MPSF conference play. With their 10th MPSF win the Bruins have also clinched the MPSF regular season crown for the third year in a row.
Cooper Robinson paced the Bruins on Thursday, and set a new career-high in kills with 25. The redshirt junior tallied 25 kills and hit .537 to lead the Bruins. Zach Rama and Sean Kelly both finished in double-digit kills as well, with 19 and 13, respectively.
As a team, UCLA hit .372 with setter Andrew Rowan dishing out 52 assists, while the Bruin block limited USC to a .221 hitting percentage on the night.
In the opening set, the Trojans raced out to an 8-4 advantage to open the first set, before the Bruins closed it to 13-12. USC then retook a three-point lead, 15-12, before Robinson slammed home a kill to make it 15-13, USC.
Ido David came in for the Bruins as a serving substitute and got the Bruins within two again at 22-20. USC rallied from their and earned set point at 24-20 off of a service ace before the Trojans took the first set 25-22.
As for the second set, Cooper Robinson tallied his ninth kill of the night to tie it at 4-4, before Andrew Rowan went on a run at the service line. The junior forced two attack errors via his serve to make it 6-4, before an ace put the Bruins up three, 7-4, forcing a USC timeout.
Rowan then dumped the ball over to put UCLA up 14-11. A few points later Robinson flew out of the back row to put UCLA up 17-14, with his 14th kill of the night. USC clawed their way back and made it 22-20 UCLA before a service error put UCLA back up three, 23-20.
Robinson tallied his 15th kill of the set to put the Bruins up 24-21, before then tallying another to give UCLA the second set, 25-22, and evened the match at 1-1 overall.
As for the third set, the sides traded points as Sean Kelly provided an ace to put UCLA up 8-7, before UCLA opened up a 12-9 lead courtesy of a service error. Thorne put the Bruins up 16-12 with his second kill of the evening.
A point later, Matthew Aziz kept the ball up with an incredible dive before Kelly slammed home the kill to put the Bruins in front by five, 17-12.
The Bruins then took the third set, 25-17 and took a 2-1 lead into the fourth set.
A Zach Rama service ace put UCLA in front 6-5 early in the fourth set, as the Bruins continued to put the pressure on USC from the service line.
USC tied it up at 12-12 before taking a two-point advantage, 18-16.
After Kelly got the Bruins within two, 21-19, Kahale Clini came in and served an ace to make it a one-point set, 21-20, in favor of USC.
The Trojans then took the fourth set 25-23, and tied the match at 2-2 heading to the fifth and final set.
In the fifth set, the sides traded points to open it up before UCLA utilized a 3-0 scoring run to take a 7-5 lead. During that run Rama rattled off two kills before Kelly put away another to get the Bruins in front.
After USC tied it at 7-7, Thorne re-established UCLA's two-point lead with a kill to put the Bruins up 9-7.
A huge block by Rowan and McQuiggan put UCLA up four points, 12-8.
UCLA then finished off USC a few points later, as Sean Kelly forced his swing off the USC block and out to take the fifth set 15-11.
Up Next: The Bruins head across town to USC to take on the Trojans on Saturday at 5 pm PT. The match will also be broadcast on B1G+.
With the five-set win, UCLA improves to 4-0 in five-set matches in 2025. UCLA also improves to 20-4 overall and 10-1 in MPSF conference play. With their 10th MPSF win the Bruins have also clinched the MPSF regular season crown for the third year in a row.
Cooper Robinson paced the Bruins on Thursday, and set a new career-high in kills with 25. The redshirt junior tallied 25 kills and hit .537 to lead the Bruins. Zach Rama and Sean Kelly both finished in double-digit kills as well, with 19 and 13, respectively.
As a team, UCLA hit .372 with setter Andrew Rowan dishing out 52 assists, while the Bruin block limited USC to a .221 hitting percentage on the night.
In the opening set, the Trojans raced out to an 8-4 advantage to open the first set, before the Bruins closed it to 13-12. USC then retook a three-point lead, 15-12, before Robinson slammed home a kill to make it 15-13, USC.
Ido David came in for the Bruins as a serving substitute and got the Bruins within two again at 22-20. USC rallied from their and earned set point at 24-20 off of a service ace before the Trojans took the first set 25-22.
As for the second set, Cooper Robinson tallied his ninth kill of the night to tie it at 4-4, before Andrew Rowan went on a run at the service line. The junior forced two attack errors via his serve to make it 6-4, before an ace put the Bruins up three, 7-4, forcing a USC timeout.
Rowan then dumped the ball over to put UCLA up 14-11. A few points later Robinson flew out of the back row to put UCLA up 17-14, with his 14th kill of the night. USC clawed their way back and made it 22-20 UCLA before a service error put UCLA back up three, 23-20.
Robinson tallied his 15th kill of the set to put the Bruins up 24-21, before then tallying another to give UCLA the second set, 25-22, and evened the match at 1-1 overall.
As for the third set, the sides traded points as Sean Kelly provided an ace to put UCLA up 8-7, before UCLA opened up a 12-9 lead courtesy of a service error. Thorne put the Bruins up 16-12 with his second kill of the evening.
A point later, Matthew Aziz kept the ball up with an incredible dive before Kelly slammed home the kill to put the Bruins in front by five, 17-12.
The Bruins then took the third set, 25-17 and took a 2-1 lead into the fourth set.
A Zach Rama service ace put UCLA in front 6-5 early in the fourth set, as the Bruins continued to put the pressure on USC from the service line.
USC tied it up at 12-12 before taking a two-point advantage, 18-16.
After Kelly got the Bruins within two, 21-19, Kahale Clini came in and served an ace to make it a one-point set, 21-20, in favor of USC.
The Trojans then took the fourth set 25-23, and tied the match at 2-2 heading to the fifth and final set.
In the fifth set, the sides traded points to open it up before UCLA utilized a 3-0 scoring run to take a 7-5 lead. During that run Rama rattled off two kills before Kelly put away another to get the Bruins in front.
After USC tied it at 7-7, Thorne re-established UCLA's two-point lead with a kill to put the Bruins up 9-7.
A huge block by Rowan and McQuiggan put UCLA up four points, 12-8.
UCLA then finished off USC a few points later, as Sean Kelly forced his swing off the USC block and out to take the fifth set 15-11.
Up Next: The Bruins head across town to USC to take on the Trojans on Saturday at 5 pm PT. The match will also be broadcast on B1G+.
Team Stats
USC
UCLA
Kills
44
64
Errors
21
19
Attempts
104
121
Hitting %
.221
.372
Points
61.5
78.0
Assists
44
60
Aces
5
8
Blocks
12.5
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
25
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
0
Kills
3
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
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