LOS ANGELES – The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball program earned a 3-1 win over No. 8 BYU on senior night inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Set scores were 21-25, 25-17, 25-23, and 27-25.
With the win, the Bruins (26-1, 13-1 MPSF) clinch a share of the MPSF regular season championship, after finishing 13-1 in conference play. Over the last five seasons, UCLA boasts a record of 57-5 in MPSF conference play
Sean Kelly led the way for UCLA with 13 kills, as five Bruins tallied at least seven kills on the night. Senior setter Andrew Rowan paced the offense to a .309 hitting percentage, while dishing out 42 assists. Zach Rama added nine kills and four service aces, and redshirt junior middle blocker Christopher Hersh tallied a career-high seven kills.
Defensively, Rama recorded eight digs, while redshirt junior David Decker added five blocks, as the Bruins limited BYU to a .222 hitting percentage.
After dropping the first set, the Bruins came alive on the block in the second set. Hersh and Decker combined for back-to-back blocks to propel the Bruins in front by six, 17-11. UCLA extended the run to 8-0 with Thorne at the service line, and took a 20-11 lead courtesy of a Thorne ace and a Decker kill.
A kill from Rama and Decker made it 24-16 in favor of UCLA, before the Bruins closed out the second set, 25-17, courtesy of a BYU service error.
In the third set the Bruins took a 14-11 lead, and pushed the advantage to 17-14 when Hersh and Kelyl recorded kills. BYU clawed their way back and took a 20-19 lead, forcing a Bruin timeout.
BYU took a 22-20 lead before the Bruins rattled off three-straight points as Decker recorded a kill, Rama added an ace, and a block from Thorne and Kelly pushed UCLA in front 23-22.
The Cougars tied the set at 23-23 before UCLA closed out the set with a block from Thorne, Kelly and Decker to make it 24-23, and then an attack error from BYU made it 25-23 in favor of the Bruins.
After falling behind 9-6 in the fourth set, the Bruins scored back-to-back points, as Kelly recorded a kill and Rama and Thorne combined for a block to get the Bruins within one, 9-8.
UCLA tied it at 12-12 when Wong Diallo came in and recorded a kill. Two attack errors in a row from the Cougars gave UCLA a 18-17 advantage. After falling behind 20-19, Kelly hammered home a kill before Decker added his second ace of the night to push UCLA in front 21-20.
The Bruins pushed in front 25-24 before BYU earned a point to push the set on. UCLA took the set, 27-25, after a kill from Kelly and an ace from Rama ended the set, and the match 3-1.
Up Next: UCLA returns to action on Tuesday evening for the quarterfinal round of the MPSF Tournament. Tournament opponents will be determined on Sunday afternoon.
With the win, the Bruins (26-1, 13-1 MPSF) clinch a share of the MPSF regular season championship, after finishing 13-1 in conference play. Over the last five seasons, UCLA boasts a record of 57-5 in MPSF conference play
Sean Kelly led the way for UCLA with 13 kills, as five Bruins tallied at least seven kills on the night. Senior setter Andrew Rowan paced the offense to a .309 hitting percentage, while dishing out 42 assists. Zach Rama added nine kills and four service aces, and redshirt junior middle blocker Christopher Hersh tallied a career-high seven kills.
Defensively, Rama recorded eight digs, while redshirt junior David Decker added five blocks, as the Bruins limited BYU to a .222 hitting percentage.
After dropping the first set, the Bruins came alive on the block in the second set. Hersh and Decker combined for back-to-back blocks to propel the Bruins in front by six, 17-11. UCLA extended the run to 8-0 with Thorne at the service line, and took a 20-11 lead courtesy of a Thorne ace and a Decker kill.
A kill from Rama and Decker made it 24-16 in favor of UCLA, before the Bruins closed out the second set, 25-17, courtesy of a BYU service error.
In the third set the Bruins took a 14-11 lead, and pushed the advantage to 17-14 when Hersh and Kelyl recorded kills. BYU clawed their way back and took a 20-19 lead, forcing a Bruin timeout.
BYU took a 22-20 lead before the Bruins rattled off three-straight points as Decker recorded a kill, Rama added an ace, and a block from Thorne and Kelly pushed UCLA in front 23-22.
The Cougars tied the set at 23-23 before UCLA closed out the set with a block from Thorne, Kelly and Decker to make it 24-23, and then an attack error from BYU made it 25-23 in favor of the Bruins.
After falling behind 9-6 in the fourth set, the Bruins scored back-to-back points, as Kelly recorded a kill and Rama and Thorne combined for a block to get the Bruins within one, 9-8.
UCLA tied it at 12-12 when Wong Diallo came in and recorded a kill. Two attack errors in a row from the Cougars gave UCLA a 18-17 advantage. After falling behind 20-19, Kelly hammered home a kill before Decker added his second ace of the night to push UCLA in front 21-20.
The Bruins pushed in front 25-24 before BYU earned a point to push the set on. UCLA took the set, 27-25, after a kill from Kelly and an ace from Rama ended the set, and the match 3-1.
Up Next: UCLA returns to action on Tuesday evening for the quarterfinal round of the MPSF Tournament. Tournament opponents will be determined on Sunday afternoon.