University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Wednesday, February 25
Santa Barbara, CA
7:00 pm (PT)
UCLA
13-0,3-0MPSF
3
at
0
No. 12 UC Santa Barbara
8-6,0-0Big West
1
2
3
F
UCLA
25
28
32
3
UC Santa Barbara
23
26
30
0
No. 1 UCLA Sweeps No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, Improves to 13-0
February 25, 2026 | Men's Volleyball
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. โ The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball program earned a 3-1 win over No. 12 UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday evening in a non-conference matchย inside the Thunderdome on the campus of UC Santa Barbara. Set scores were 25-23, 28-26, 32-30.
The Bruins hit .356 on the night, as setter Andrew Rowan paced the offense with 39 assists. Zach Rama led the way with 19 kills, and hit .586, while Sean Kelly had 12 kills and hit .400.
Defensively, libero Chris Connelly had 10 digs to lead the team, while Christopher Hersh had five blocks on the night.
With the win, the Bruins improve to 13-0 on the year, their best start to a season since 1998, when the Bruins began the year 16-0.
UCLA opened the first set hot and raced out to a 5-2 lead. A kill from Wong Diallo pushed UCLA's lead to 15-12. After UCSB tied the set at 18-18, Kelly hammered home a kill to make it 19-18 in favor of the Bruins.
An attack error from UCSB pushed UCLA to set point at 24-23. Rama then hammered home his fourth kill of the set to give UCLA the opening set, 25-23.
As for the second set, UC Santa Barbara opened the set on a tear, and took a 15-10 lead midway through.
The Bruins battled back and went on a 4-0 run to tie the second set at 18-18 courtesy of two kills from Rama, a service ace, and a kill from Kelly.
UC Santa Barbara had a set point at 24-23, before a service error tied the set at 24-24. UCLA then took the second set 28-26, with Hersh recording an ace to end the set.
With a 2-0 sets lead the Bruins entered the third set hot again as UCLA took a 12-11 advantage. UCSB then took a 18-17 lead as the two teams traded points and the teams went to extra points in the third set.
Tied at 26-26, a kill from Rama earned the Bruins their first match point of the night. UCSB fended it off and eventually the sides were all square at 30-30.
A UC Santa Barbara service error gave the Bruins match point, and David Decker sealed the match with an ace to give the Bruins the set, 32-30, and the match 3-0.
Up Next: UCLA travels to No. 4 UC Irvine on Friday evening. First serve is set for 7 pm PT.
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The Bruins hit .356 on the night, as setter Andrew Rowan paced the offense with 39 assists. Zach Rama led the way with 19 kills, and hit .586, while Sean Kelly had 12 kills and hit .400.
Defensively, libero Chris Connelly had 10 digs to lead the team, while Christopher Hersh had five blocks on the night.
With the win, the Bruins improve to 13-0 on the year, their best start to a season since 1998, when the Bruins began the year 16-0.
UCLA opened the first set hot and raced out to a 5-2 lead. A kill from Wong Diallo pushed UCLA's lead to 15-12. After UCSB tied the set at 18-18, Kelly hammered home a kill to make it 19-18 in favor of the Bruins.
An attack error from UCSB pushed UCLA to set point at 24-23. Rama then hammered home his fourth kill of the set to give UCLA the opening set, 25-23.
As for the second set, UC Santa Barbara opened the set on a tear, and took a 15-10 lead midway through.
The Bruins battled back and went on a 4-0 run to tie the second set at 18-18 courtesy of two kills from Rama, a service ace, and a kill from Kelly.
UC Santa Barbara had a set point at 24-23, before a service error tied the set at 24-24. UCLA then took the second set 28-26, with Hersh recording an ace to end the set.
With a 2-0 sets lead the Bruins entered the third set hot again as UCLA took a 12-11 advantage. UCSB then took a 18-17 lead as the two teams traded points and the teams went to extra points in the third set.
Tied at 26-26, a kill from Rama earned the Bruins their first match point of the night. UCSB fended it off and eventually the sides were all square at 30-30.
A UC Santa Barbara service error gave the Bruins match point, and David Decker sealed the match with an ace to give the Bruins the set, 32-30, and the match 3-0.
Up Next: UCLA travels to No. 4 UC Irvine on Friday evening. First serve is set for 7 pm PT.
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Team Stats
UCLA
UCSB
Kills
48
43
Errors
15
13
Attempts
92
98
Hitting %
.359
.306
Points
62.0
55.0
Assists
42
39
Aces
7
6
Blocks
7
6
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
4
Blocks
1
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
6
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Players Mentioned
Opp
/ Men's Volleyball
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