No. 1 UCLA Set For Matches at UC Merced, Menlo This Weekend

Thursday, April 9

Merced, CA

6:00 pm (PT)

UCLA

UC Merced

No. 1 UCLA Set For Matches at UC Merced, Menlo This Weekend

April 08, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

MVB Game Notes (PDF)

NO. 1 UCLA SET FOR THREE MATCHES IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
The UCLA men's volleyball program, winners of 21 NCAA titles, will play at UC Merced on Thursday and Friday, followed by a match at Menlo on Sunday for its final round trip of MPSF conference play. UCLA heads into the weekend 8-1 in conference play and 21-1 overall. All three matches will be streamed on B1G+.

BOUNCED BACK
UCLA earned a four-set win over No. 6 Pepperdine on Saturday evening. Sean Kelly amassed 15 kills to lead all players, while senior setter Andrew Rowan added 47 assists.

UCLA is now 17-2 after falling in the previous match dating back to the beginning of the 2022 season.

FIVE SET THRILLER
UCLA fell for the first time in 2026 on Thursday night, losing in five sets at No. 6 Pepperdine. Senior setter Andrew Rowan tallied 53 assists in the loss, while sophomore outside hitter Sean Kelly recorded a team-high 22 kills in the loss.

UCLA is now 7-2 in five set matches dating back to the beginning of the 2025 season. Both five set losses have come at Pepperdine during that time frame.

BRUINS TAKE TWO IN THE BAY
UCLA beat No. 14 Stanford on back-to-back nights in the Bay Area last weekend. The Bruins won both matches in a sweep, 3-0, to improve to 20-0 overall for the first time since 1984.

In Friday's win senior setter Andrew Rowan surpassed 4,000 career assists, becoming the second Bruin to dish out 4,000 or more assists in the rally scoring era (since 2001).
As for Saturday, Sean Kelly and Zach Rama each recorded double digit kills in the 3-0 sweep of the Cardinal.

HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?
Senior setter Andrew Rowan, a 3x AVCA First Team All-American, surpassed 4,000 career assists on Friday evening. For his career, Rowan has 4,098 assists, and trails only Rich Nelson in the rally scoring era (since 2001) in total assists. Nelson recorded 4,346 assists between 2001 and 2003.

WINNING ON ISLAND TIME
UCLA won the OUTRIGGER Invitational hosted by Hawai'i in mid-March, defeating two ranked opponents to win the tournament. UCLA took down No. 14 Lewis 3-0, before beating the hosts No. 3 Hawai'i in front of over 10,000 in straight sets, 3-0.

Sean Kelly, Cameron Thorne and Andrew Rowan were all named to the All-Tournament team, while Rowan was also named the tournament's most outstanding player.
Offensively the Bruins hit .395 on the night in the 3-0 win over No. 3 Hawai'i. Sean Kelly led all players with 15 kills and hit .609, while Zach Rama added 11 kills. Senior Setter Andrew Rowan tallied 36 assists.

TOOK DOWN THE TROJANS x 2
The UCLA men's volleyball program earned two wins over No. 5 USC last week. The first came at USC in a comeback win in five sets, 3-2, while the second came on the campus of UCLA in four sets, 3-1. With the two wins the Bruins improve to 16-0 for the first time since 1998.

AVCA NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK, SEAN KELLY
Sean Kelly was named AVCA National Player of the Week for the first time after UCLA swept USC in early March. The Manhattan Beach, California native totaled 38 kills and hit .438 over the two matches. Kelly tallied a career-high 21 kills in a five-set win over USC, while also adding seven digs, a solo block, and a solo block. He followed that performance with 17 kills, two aces, and six digs in a four-set win over USC inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial.

UCLA OUTLASTS UC IRVINE
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 as the Bruins won set one, lost the next two, and then won sets four and five. 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.

SWEPT THE BEACH
UCLA took on No. 2 Long Beach State on Feb. 20, taking down the Beach 3-1. Senior Cameron Thorne led the way for UCLA, tallying 13 kills and six blocks on the night, while senior setter Andrew paced the Bruins to a .477 hitting percentage on the night in front of 4,800 fans. As for the away game on Feb. 6, the Bruins won 3-2 in a reverse sweep in front of a crowd of over 4,000 in Long Beach. The Bruins dropped the opening two sets before winning the final three. Set scores were 16-25, 22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-10. Zach Rama led the Bruins with 21 kills, while setter Andrew Rowan dished out 45 assists and served an ace to end the fifth set and the match.

ATOP THE CHARTS
The Bruins currently are in the top 10 in the nation in multiple categories to begin the 2026 season:

UCLA is ranked first in the country in assists per set at 12.93
The Bruins lead the nation in hitting percentage at .386
UCLA is second in kills per set at 13.67
The Bruins are fifth in aces per set at 1.85
Andrew Rowan is first in assists per set at 11.60
Rowan is sixth at .527 aces per set, and David Decker is eighth nationally in aces per set at .514
Sean Kelly is eighth in hitting percentage at .404

MAKING HISTORY
The UCLA men's volleyball team made history in their three set sweep of Ohio State. The Bruins won the second set 48-46, setting a new NCAA record for most points in a single set. The set featured a record 94 points, lasted 58 minutes, and featured 17 set points, with the Bruins coming out on top 48-46 courtesy of an Andrew Rowan service ace to end the set.

ONE'S TO WATCH
Senior outside hitter Zach Rama, sophomore outside hitter Sean Kelly, and senior setter Andrew Rowan have been named to the AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List, the conference announced on Wednesday, April 8.

Kelly, a sophomore outside hitter from Manhattan Beach, California, has totaled 281 kills on the season, good for 3.60 points per set, and a .404 hitting percentage. His hitting percentage is eighth nationally, and he has the second-most kills out of any of the top 15 players in hitting percentage.
Rama, a senior outside hitter from Phoenix, Arizona, leads the team in kills with 286. He has hit .348 on the year, totaled 3.81 kills per set, and 4.21 points per set. His 286 ranks 15th nationally, and his hitting percentage of .348 is the third-highest hitting percentage of any player with at least 265 kills.
Rowan, a senior setter from Trabuco Canyon, California, is already a three-time AVCA first team All-American and has led the Bruins to the top-ranked hitting percentage in the country in 2026 at .386. He has also led the Bruins to the highest assists per set total at 12.92, and UCLA currently sits second in kills per set at 13.67. Rowan also became the second Bruin in the rally scoring era to surpass 4,00 career assists earlier this year.

HAVE A WEEK, RAMA
Senior outside hitter Zach Rama was named the AVCA National Player of the week and the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 20. Rama led the Bruins in total kills in two ranked wins over No. 16 Ball State and No. 6 Loyola Chicago at the First Point Collegiate Challenge in Phoenix, Arizona, over the weekend. He averaged 5.71 kills per set, added 1.29 digs per set, and averaged 5.86 points per set. The Phoenix, Arizona native totaled 40 kills and hit .515 over the two matches. After tallying 17 kills in a four-set win over Ball State, Rama caught fire on Sunday, recording a career-high 23 kills in a straight-sets sweep of No. 6 Loyola Chicago. In the win over Loyola Chicago, Rama hit .618 on the night and totaled 23 points on his 23 kills.
SETTING THE TONE
Senior setter Andrew Rowan paced the Bruins offense to a .396 hitting percentage over the opening two months of the season. Rowan has tallied 697 assists over 17 matches so far in 2026, pacing at 11.61 assists per set. The senior has had at least 40 set assists in 10 of the 17 matches and had a season-high 59 set assists in a win at No. 5 USC on March 3.

MPSF OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
In addition to earning AVCA and MPSF player of the week honors in week two, Rama also earned MPSF Offensive Player of the Week for week one and three. Rama led the Bruins in kills in two straight set wins over McKendree and Concordia, averaging 4.50 kills per set, totaling 27 kills, and hitting .420 over the two games. Rama led the way with 16 kills and hit .500 in UCLA's opening night win over McKendree. He then added 11 kills and hit .333 in UCLA's 3-0 sweep of CUI on Sunday. After another strong weekend where he tallied 21 kills against LBSU and added another 12 kills in the win at Vangaurd, totaling 33 kills on the weekend.

MIDDLE U
Middle Blocker's Cameron Thorne and Micah Wong Diallo have started the 2026 season strongly.

Thorne, a two-time AVCA first team All-American, recorded 13 kills on 16 swings (.688 hitting percentage) through the opening weekend, and has totaled 129 kills through the first 13 matches of the year, with a season-high 13 in UCLA's four set win over Long Beach State. Thorne is hitting .581 on the year.
Wong Diallo, in his first season as a starter as a junior, recorded 14 kills on 17 swings (.824 hitting percentage) throughout the opening weekend, and through his first 14 matches is hitting .511.

2025 IN REVIEW

The Bruins earned their third straight NCAA Championship final appearance and their fourth final four in a row
Cooper Robinson was named MPSF Player of the Year in his senior season
Four Bruins were named AVCA All-Americans
UCLA returns three All-Americans in setter Andrew Rowan (1st team), middle blocker Cameron Thorne (1st team), and outside hitter Zach Rama (2nd team)
UCLA finished the season 22-7 and 10-2 in MPSF play and finished top of the standings during the MPSF regular season for the fifth year in a row
The Bruins finished in the top five in the country in multiple categories during the 2025 season. UCLA was second in the country in hitting percentage at .364 and were fourth in the country in aces per set with 1.93.
At the conclusion of the 2025 season head coach John Hawks and rising sophomore Sean Kelly represented the United States at the U21 World Championships held in China. The trio of Bruin then earned bronze on the world stage, becoming the first USA youth national team to medal at a world championships.

SWEEPIN' BRUINS
UCLA has swept its opponents in 14 of 21 matches throughout the 2026 season. Of those 14 sweeps, 10 have come against ranked opponents in No. 15 McKendree, No. 6 Loyola Chicago, No. 11 UC San Diego, No. 12 Ohio State, No. 17 CSUN, No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, No. 14 Lewis, No. 3 Hawai'i, and No. 14 Stanford twice.