No. 1 UCLA Outlasts No. 4 UC Irvine in Five Sets, 3-2

Friday, February 27

Irvine, CA

7:00 pm (PT)

UCLA

14-0,3-0MPSF

No. 4 UC Irvine

12-2,0-0Big West

UCLA

UC Irvine

No. 1 UCLA Outlasts No. 4 UC Irvine in Five Sets, 3-2

February 27, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. – The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball program earned a comeback five-set win on Friday night, taking down No. 4 UC Irvine 3-2 in a non-conference match inside the Bren Events Center on the campus of UC Irvine. Set scores on Friday night were 25-22, 20-25, 28-30, 25-22, and 15-11.

Three Bruins finished in double-figure kills on Friday evening. Zach Rama led the Bruins with 20 kills on the night, while Sean Kelly added a career-high 19 kills, and opposite David Decker added 12 kills.

UCLA limited the Anteaters to .221 hitting on the night, and totaled 16.5 blocks as a team. Micah Wong Diallo added a career-high nine block assists, while libero Chris Connelly had a game-high 15 digs, and setter Andrew Rowan added a career-high 12 digs on the night.

With the win, the Bruins improve to 14-0 on the year, and are the only undefeated team left in the country. UC Irvine falls to 12-2 overall with the loss.

In the opening set the Bruins edged in front 13-10, forcing a UC Irvine timeout. Kills from Decker sandwiched around a UCI attack error forced the timeout.

A kill from Rama off a Rowan assist pushed the Bruins in front 17-13. A Decker service ace made it a 23-20 advantage in favor of the Bruins before a Rama kill earned UCLA the set one win, 25-22.

As for the second set, the Anteaters tied the match at 1-1, taking it 25-20. UCI limited UCLA to a .192 hitting percentage in the set.

In the third set the Bruins initially trailed 8-3 before rallying off four points in a row to get within one, 8-7. UCLA then tied the set at 9-9 when Thorne and Rowan combined for the block. A Sean Kelly ace made it 10-9 in favor of the Bruins.

UCI responded by taking nine of the next 13 points to take an 18-14 advantage in the set. UCLA clawed their way back and tied the set at 25-25 when Kelly hammered home a kill.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, UC Irvine took the third set 30-28 and took a 2-1 lead heading into the fourth set.

With their backs against the wall, UCLA responded, taking the fourth set 25-22. Despite the Anteaters racing out to an 8-4 lead early on, the Bruins gutted out the set.

A Sean Kelly kill made it 20-17 in favor of the Bruins in the set, forcing a UCI timeout. A Rama kill extended the lead to 24-21 before he added another kill to take the set 25-22, and tied the match at 2-2.

In the decisive fifth set, UCLA raced out to a 4-1 advantage after two kills from Kelly, forcing a UCI timeout. A kill from Decker made it 12-7 in favor of UCLA, before UCI rattled off two straight points.

With the Bruins up 13-9, UC Irvine closed the gap to 13-11, courtesy of a Bruin service error and an Anteater kill. The Bruins then wrapped up the match after an Irvine service error and a block from Wong Diallo, and Rama sealed the set, 15-11, and the match 3-2.

Up Next: UCLA heads across town to face USC at the Galen Center on the campus of USC. First serve is set for 7 pm PT, and the match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.