Saturday, April 5
Phoenix, AZ
5 p.m. PT
UCLA
17-4,7-1MPSF
3
at
2
No. 13 GCU
15-9,4-6MPSF
1
2
3
4
5
F
UCLA
25
17
25
25
15
3
Grand Canyon
20
25
23
27
11
2
No. 2 UCLA Beats No. 13 GCU in Five Sets, 3-2
April 05, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
PHOENIX, Ariz. – The No. 2 UCLA men's volleyball team took down No. 13 Grand Canyon in an MPSF conference match on Saturday in five sets, 3-2. Set scores were 25-20, 17-25, 25-23, 25-27, 15-11.
Cooper Robinson led the way for UCLA with a season-high 19 kills, while Zach Rama and Sean Kelly also finished in double-digit kills with 10 and 11, respectively.
Andrew Rowan dished out 47 assists as the Bruins hit .344 as a squad on Saturday.
In the first set Matthew Edwards recorded UCLA's first service ace to tie the set at 4-4, before Rama muscled home a kill to put UCLA in front, 5-4.
Rama then added a second service ace in the set for UCLA, putting the Bruins up 7-5. Freshman Sean Kelly then added a third ace for UCLA, putting UCLA up 9-6.
GCU put together a 3-0 run to tie the match at 12-12 before a service error from the Lopes put the Bruins back up 13-12.
Later on in the set Thorne served up UCLA's fifth ace of the set, and put the Bruins in front 20-17. Edwards then tallied another kill for the Bruins to take the first set, 25-20.
As for the second set, the two sides traded points as Cooper Robinson tallied a couple of early kills while Rowan dumped a ball over to tie the set at 7-7.
With the Bruins down 14-10, Kahale Klini was brought in to serve and tallied a service ace to make it 14-11 in favor of GCU.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, GCU would pull away throughout the remainder of the set, and evened the match at 1-1 by taking the second set 25-17.
In the third set, Sean McQuiggan came in for the Bruins and provided a spark, hammering home a kill to put the Bruins up 2-1 early on.
A GCU missed serve was followed by a Robinson ace which put UCLA up 10-7. Rama then added his seventh kill of the afternoon to put UCLA up four, 11-7.
Thorne put the Bruins up 16-12 with his second kill of the day, but GCU clawed their way back after that. With UCLA up 19-18, Kelly added another kill, to put UCLA up 20-18, before Throne put UCLA up 21-19 two points later.
Robinson recorded his eighth kill of the day after a 30 second rally to put UCLA up 24-22 in the third set. McQuiggan then recorded his fourth kill of the set to secure the set for UCLA 25-23, who took a 2-1 sets lead into the fourth set.
In the fourth set, Thorne recorded a huge block to put UCLA up early 4-3. Kelly then added a kill on a GCU overpass to put the Bruins up 6-4 before Thorne recorded another block to put UCLA up three, 7-4.
Later on in the set, a trio of Bruins blocked the lopes to put UCLA up 15-14. UCLA then earned back-to-back points to push in front by two, 20-18. Robinson provided both kills to push his total for the day to 13 kills.
GCU then tied the set up at 23-23, before Robinson added another kill to give the Bruins match point at 24-23. GCU then tied it up 24-24 before then taking the fourth set 27-25, and tied the match at 2-2.
In the fifth set Robinson served up an ace and tallied his 18th kill of the match to put the Bruins up 4-1.
UCLA then extended the lead to 8-5 when the squads swapped sides, courtesy of an attack error by the Lopes.
The Bruins then rattled off back-to-back points to clinch the match as Thorne slammed home a kill to put UCLA up 14-11 before McQuiggan denied the Lopes with a solo block to earn the set 15-11, and the match 3-2.
Up Next: UCLA returns to Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial on Friday, April 11, to take on BYU. First serve is set for 7 pm PT and will be broadcast on B1G+.
Cooper Robinson led the way for UCLA with a season-high 19 kills, while Zach Rama and Sean Kelly also finished in double-digit kills with 10 and 11, respectively.
Andrew Rowan dished out 47 assists as the Bruins hit .344 as a squad on Saturday.
In the first set Matthew Edwards recorded UCLA's first service ace to tie the set at 4-4, before Rama muscled home a kill to put UCLA in front, 5-4.
Rama then added a second service ace in the set for UCLA, putting the Bruins up 7-5. Freshman Sean Kelly then added a third ace for UCLA, putting UCLA up 9-6.
GCU put together a 3-0 run to tie the match at 12-12 before a service error from the Lopes put the Bruins back up 13-12.
Later on in the set Thorne served up UCLA's fifth ace of the set, and put the Bruins in front 20-17. Edwards then tallied another kill for the Bruins to take the first set, 25-20.
As for the second set, the two sides traded points as Cooper Robinson tallied a couple of early kills while Rowan dumped a ball over to tie the set at 7-7.
With the Bruins down 14-10, Kahale Klini was brought in to serve and tallied a service ace to make it 14-11 in favor of GCU.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, GCU would pull away throughout the remainder of the set, and evened the match at 1-1 by taking the second set 25-17.
In the third set, Sean McQuiggan came in for the Bruins and provided a spark, hammering home a kill to put the Bruins up 2-1 early on.
A GCU missed serve was followed by a Robinson ace which put UCLA up 10-7. Rama then added his seventh kill of the afternoon to put UCLA up four, 11-7.
Thorne put the Bruins up 16-12 with his second kill of the day, but GCU clawed their way back after that. With UCLA up 19-18, Kelly added another kill, to put UCLA up 20-18, before Throne put UCLA up 21-19 two points later.
Robinson recorded his eighth kill of the day after a 30 second rally to put UCLA up 24-22 in the third set. McQuiggan then recorded his fourth kill of the set to secure the set for UCLA 25-23, who took a 2-1 sets lead into the fourth set.
In the fourth set, Thorne recorded a huge block to put UCLA up early 4-3. Kelly then added a kill on a GCU overpass to put the Bruins up 6-4 before Thorne recorded another block to put UCLA up three, 7-4.
Later on in the set, a trio of Bruins blocked the lopes to put UCLA up 15-14. UCLA then earned back-to-back points to push in front by two, 20-18. Robinson provided both kills to push his total for the day to 13 kills.
GCU then tied the set up at 23-23, before Robinson added another kill to give the Bruins match point at 24-23. GCU then tied it up 24-24 before then taking the fourth set 27-25, and tied the match at 2-2.
In the fifth set Robinson served up an ace and tallied his 18th kill of the match to put the Bruins up 4-1.
UCLA then extended the lead to 8-5 when the squads swapped sides, courtesy of an attack error by the Lopes.
The Bruins then rattled off back-to-back points to clinch the match as Thorne slammed home a kill to put UCLA up 14-11 before McQuiggan denied the Lopes with a solo block to earn the set 15-11, and the match 3-2.
Up Next: UCLA returns to Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial on Friday, April 11, to take on BYU. First serve is set for 7 pm PT and will be broadcast on B1G+.
Team Stats
UCLA
GCU
Kills
62
37
Errors
19
12
Attempts
125
95
Hitting %
.344
.263
Points
78.0
49.0
Assists
53
32
Aces
10
6
Blocks
6
6
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
19
Aces
3
Blocks
0
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
7
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballS
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