LOS ANGELES – The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball program earned a 3-1 win over No. 6 Pepperdine on Saturday evening in an MPSF Conference match inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Set scores were 27-29, 25-16, 25-17, 25-22.
Three Bruins finished in double digits, as Sean Kelly tallied 15 kills and hit .480 on the night, David Decker added 14 kills, and Zach Rama recorded 11 kills. UCLA (21-1, 8-1 MPSF) hit .396 as a squad and senior setter Andrew Rowan recorded 47 set assists.
Pepperdine takes their fist loss in MPSF play, falling to 18-5 overall and 9-1 in MPSF play.
The first set went back and forth as neither team established more than a two-point lead throughout the set.
Pepperdine took a 23-21 lead in the opening set before Rowan found Thorne through the middle to close the gap to one point, 23-22.
After Pepperdine extended the lead to 24-22, the Bruins rattled off two points in a row to continue the set. A service error from the Waves made it 24-23, before with freshman Grayson Bradford at the service line, Sean Kelly hammered home a kill to tie the set at 24-24.
The sides went back and forth before the Bruins tied it at 27-27. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Pepperdine took the next two points to take the first set 29-27.
As for the second set, the Bruins opened up a 9-7 lead and then extended it to 13-9, forcing a Pepperdine timeout. During that run, Decker and Wong Diallo combined for a block before Rowan found Rama to push the lead to four.
Trent Taliaferro came in to serve and recorded an ace to make it 16-11 in favor of the Bruins. Rowan and Thorne combined for a block to make it 17-11. Rowan then added an ace and a Pepperdine hitting error made it 20-12 in favor of UCLA.
Kelly recorded his 10th kill of the night to put the Bruins up 21-13. A kill from Decker made it 23-15 in favor of the Bruins before Wong Diallo pushed it to 24-16. A Pepperdine attack error gave the Bruins the second set, 25-16.
As for the third set, the Bruins continued to put the pressure on the Waves.
A Wong Diallo kill put UCLA up 22-15, before he followed that with a service ace to give UCLA an eight-point lead, 23-15.
With UCLA leading 24-17, Thorne hammered home a kill to give the Bruins the set, 25-17, and a two-set-to-one lead in the match.
As for the fourth set, the Bruins went in front 14-12. UCLA pushed the lead to 19-16 after kills from Wong Diallo, Decker and Rama, forcing a Pepperdine timeout.
Kills from Kelly and Thorne made it 23-19 in favor of UCLA. A Pepperdine service error then gave the Bruins the fourth set, 25-22, and the match 3-1.
Up Next: UCLA returns to action on Thursday at UC Merced. First serve is set for 6 pm PT and the match will be broadcast on B1G+.
Three Bruins finished in double digits, as Sean Kelly tallied 15 kills and hit .480 on the night, David Decker added 14 kills, and Zach Rama recorded 11 kills. UCLA (21-1, 8-1 MPSF) hit .396 as a squad and senior setter Andrew Rowan recorded 47 set assists.
Pepperdine takes their fist loss in MPSF play, falling to 18-5 overall and 9-1 in MPSF play.
The first set went back and forth as neither team established more than a two-point lead throughout the set.
Pepperdine took a 23-21 lead in the opening set before Rowan found Thorne through the middle to close the gap to one point, 23-22.
After Pepperdine extended the lead to 24-22, the Bruins rattled off two points in a row to continue the set. A service error from the Waves made it 24-23, before with freshman Grayson Bradford at the service line, Sean Kelly hammered home a kill to tie the set at 24-24.
The sides went back and forth before the Bruins tied it at 27-27. Unfortunately for the Bruins, Pepperdine took the next two points to take the first set 29-27.
As for the second set, the Bruins opened up a 9-7 lead and then extended it to 13-9, forcing a Pepperdine timeout. During that run, Decker and Wong Diallo combined for a block before Rowan found Rama to push the lead to four.
Trent Taliaferro came in to serve and recorded an ace to make it 16-11 in favor of the Bruins. Rowan and Thorne combined for a block to make it 17-11. Rowan then added an ace and a Pepperdine hitting error made it 20-12 in favor of UCLA.
Kelly recorded his 10th kill of the night to put the Bruins up 21-13. A kill from Decker made it 23-15 in favor of the Bruins before Wong Diallo pushed it to 24-16. A Pepperdine attack error gave the Bruins the second set, 25-16.
As for the third set, the Bruins continued to put the pressure on the Waves.
A Wong Diallo kill put UCLA up 22-15, before he followed that with a service ace to give UCLA an eight-point lead, 23-15.
With UCLA leading 24-17, Thorne hammered home a kill to give the Bruins the set, 25-17, and a two-set-to-one lead in the match.
As for the fourth set, the Bruins went in front 14-12. UCLA pushed the lead to 19-16 after kills from Wong Diallo, Decker and Rama, forcing a Pepperdine timeout.
Kills from Kelly and Thorne made it 23-19 in favor of UCLA. A Pepperdine service error then gave the Bruins the fourth set, 25-22, and the match 3-1.
Up Next: UCLA returns to action on Thursday at UC Merced. First serve is set for 6 pm PT and the match will be broadcast on B1G+.