UCLA Men's Volleyball - NCAA Championships (21)
2024
The top-seeded UCLA men's volleyball team won the 2024 Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship in four sets on May 4 over No. 2 seed Long Beach State in Walter Pyramid. Scores of the match were 25-21, 25-20, 27-29, 25-21. The victory brought home NCAA men's volleyball championship No. 21 for the program and produced the first back-to-back titles by the Bruins since the 1995 and 1996 seasons, as well as the 122nd overall NCAA title for the school across all sports. The loss snapped a 27-match home court win streak by Long Beach dating back to a Feb. 2023 win by the Bruins.
2023
The top-seeded UCLA men's volleyball team won the 2023 Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship in four sets on Saturday over two-time defending champion Hawai'i in EagleBank Arena on the campus of George Mason University. Scores of the match were 28-26, 31-33, 25-21, 25-21. The victory brought home NCAA men's volleyball championship No. 20 for the program, and first since the 2006 season, as well as the 121st overall NCAA title for the school across all sports. UCLA finishes the season with a record of 31-2 which is the most wins since the 1995 Bruins went 31-1 and also captured the NCAA title.
2006
UCLA completed a remarkable run for the NCAA title by winning its final 14 matches after starting the season 12-12. On March 17, the Bruins rallied from a 0-2 deficit to beat USC at home 3-2 and catapult their stretch run to the national championship. The Bruins won their last seven conference matches to secure a berth in the MPSF playoffs where they defeated three higher ranked teams to earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. At the NCAAs, the Bruins swept Indiana-Purdue, Fort Wayne and host Penn State to capture their 19th crown in men's volleyball and the school's 98th overall NCAA team title. Junior Steve Klosterman earned the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honors and seniors Damien Scott and Dennis Gonzalez were named to the All-Tournament team. The Bruins finished with a record of 26-12 in winning their 19th NCAA team championship, the most of any school in the sport of volleyball.
2000
UCLA swept Ohio State in three games (15-8, 15-10, 17-15) to win the men's volleyball title at Fort Wayne, Indiana. It was the 18th NCAA title for the Bruins under the guidance of Al Scates, the most for any coach in a single sport (UCLA also won a pair of USVBA titles under Scates). The Bruins, who finished the season 29-5, ousted Pepperdine in the MPSF finals to earn the top seed at the NCAAs. They then swept Penn State to reach the national-title match. Setter Brandon Taliaferro earned player of the year honors from Volleyball Magazine, and was named the most outstanding player on the NCAA All-Tournament team. Seth Burnham and Evan Thatcher also made the All-Tournament squad.
1998
After surviving a scare from Lewis University in the semifinals, UCLA swept local rival Pepperdine in the finals (15-11, 15-11, 15-7) to win the NCAA title in Hawaii. Adam Naeve was named the tourney's most outstanding player and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Brandon Taliaferro and Fred Robins. Naeve and Taliaferro also earned first-team All-America honors. The Bruins went 28-4, defeated USC for the 12th consecutive time and won their sixth consecutive MPSF Mountain Division title. Al Scates was named national coach of the year for the fifth time.
1996
Al Scates was named coach of the year after guiding the Bruins to their 16th, and perhaps most improbable, NCAA men's volleyball title. UCLA lost four starters from its 1995 national championship team but went 26-5 and defeated preseason favorite Hawaii in a grueling, 3-hour 27-minute, five-game marathon (15-13, 12-15, 9-15, 17-15, 15-12) in the final at Pauley Pavilion. Setter Stein Metzger was national co-player of the year and earned NCAA All-Tournament honors along with teammate Tom Stillwell, who led the country in blocking average.
1995
After losing to Penn State in the 1994 NCAA title game, UCLA stormed back in 1995, going 31-1 on the season. The lone loss was to Ball State, and the Bruins demolished them when they faced them again in the NCAA semifinals. The Bruins got revenge against Penn State in the NCAA title game, beating them 15-3, 15-10, 15-10. Senior Jeff Nygaard won his second straight AVCA and Volleyball Magazine Player of the Year awards, and he along with Stein Metzger and John Speraw were named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Nygaard was also named Most Outstanding Player.
1993
After their longest title drought-three years-since the inception of the NCAA volleyball tournament in 1970, the Bruins returned to the winner's circle with a vengeance in 1993, sweeping 22 opponents en route to a 24-3 record, including a rout of upstart Cal State Northridge in the final match, 15-8, 15-11, 15-10. Senior setter Mike Sealy was named the player of the year and shared tournament MVP honors with teammate Jeff Nygaard, who was nearly flawless while hitting .867 in a semifinal victory over Ohio State. Al Scates notched his 800th victory as coach (he ended the season at 810) and earned national coach of the year notice for the third time. UCLA set new school records for team hitting percentage and blocking.
1989
UCLA and Stanford tied for the conference title in 1989, then met in the final for the national championship. The Bruins spoiled the Cardinal's bid to become the first team outside of southern California to win the NCAAs, emerging victorious in four games. Matt Sonnichsen was the MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by Trevor Schirman, Anthony Curci and Matt Whitaker. UCLA finished 29-5 and improved to 20-0 in NCAA tournament games played at Pauley Pavilion.
1987
Ozzie Volstad, an All-Tournament selection as a freshman when UCLA won the national title in 1984, was the outstanding player of the 1987 tourney, which the Bruins capped by beating arch-rival USC in three games, 15-11, 15-2, 16-14, in the final at Pauley Pavilion. Volstad and Jeff Williams earned All-America honors as UCLA won its last 27 matches to finish with a school- and collegiate-record-tying 38 victories against three defeats. Volstad, Williams, and Arne Lamberg were named to the All-Tournament team. Al Scates was named the national coach of the year for the second time in four seasons.
1984
Before a record 9,809 fans at Pauley Pavilion, top-ranked and undefeated UCLA beat number-two Pepperdine in four games (15-11, 15-13, 16-18, 15-12) to give the Bruins an unprecedented fourth consecutive national title and their 11th in 15 years. Setter Ricci Luyties, the NCAA tournament's most outstanding player for the second straight year, and All-America middle blocker Doug Partie were the catalysts again, each player capping his four-year career with his fourth national title. UCLA finished the season 38-0, and Al Scates was named the national coach of the year.
1983
The Bruins rolled over Pepperdine in three games (15-10, 16-14, 15-7) at Ohio State to win their third consecutive NCAA title. UCLA struggled early in the conference season, winning only three of its first six matches, but then reeled off nine consecutive victories to win the league title and earn a berth in the Final Four. The Bruins then easily dispatched the host Buckeyes in the semifinals before beating the Waves, a team they had lost to two times in three previous meetings in the 1983 season. All-America setter Ricci Luyties was the tournament's most outstanding player. UCLA finished the season 27-4.
1982
The Bruins dominated collegiate volleyball in 1982, going 29-0 and winning their ninth NCAA title since 1970. Four-time All-America Karch Kiraly capped his UCLA career by earning MVP honors on the NCAA All-Tournament team for the second consecutive year after leading the Bruins past Ohio State in the semifinals and host Penn State in the championship match. The Bruins disposed of the Buckeyes in only 45 minutes, then cruised past the Nittany Lions 15-4, 15-9, 15-7. Doug Partie, Mark Kinnison and Dave Mochalski joined Kiraly on the All-Tournament team.
1981
Steve Salmons, out of the lineup for more than a year and a half while rehabilitating from a back injury suffered at the 1979 Pan Am Games, returned to the court late in the season and played a pivotal role for the 1981 NCAA champions. Salmons helped spark a five-game victory over USC in the title match. He was named to the All-Tournament team along with MVP Karch Kiraly and Steve Gulnac. Kiraly played every game of every match and earned All-America honors for the third consecutive year for the Bruins, who finished 32-3.
1979
The Bruins completed collegiate volleyball's first perfect season, finishing 31-0 and winning the national title for the seventh time. The Bruins beat rival USC in four games in the championship match at Pauley Pavilion. After dropping the opening game, 12-15, UCLA roared back to win the next three, 15-12, 15-11, 15-7. Four Bruins were named to the All-Tournament team, including senior captain and All-American Sinjin Smith, the championship's most outstanding player. Steve Salmons was the NCAA player of the year.
1976
Backup setter Steve Suttich made the play of the night in the championship, making a diving save to stave off game point in the opener, and UCLA went on to sweep Pepperdine to win the title at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana. The Bruins trailed 15-14 when Suttich's save sparked a rally for an 18-16 victory. UCLA then swept to the title with relatively easy wins of 15-9 and 15-11 in the final two games. All-America selection Joe Mica led a host of Bruins on the All-Tournament team and was also named the MVP. UCLA finished 15-2 en route to its third consecutive championship and its sixth in the seven-year history of the event.
1975
The Bruins stymied top-ranked and unbeaten UC Santa Barbara in the title match for the second consecutive year, winning in four games (15-9, 7-15, 15-9, 15-10) before more than 8,000 fans at Pauley Pavilion. MVP John Bekins led UCLA with a near-flawless setting performance in the final and was joined on the All-Tournament team by John Herron and Joe Mica, an All-American freshman. The Bruins, who beat Ohio State in four games in the semifinals, finished 27-8 and won their fifth championship in six years.
1974
Seldom-used freshman Sabin Perkins came off the bench to serve six consecutive points, including three aces, in the decisive fifth game as UCLA beat UC Santa Barbara (10-15, 15-8, 10-15, 15-11, 15-12) to win the NCAA title for the fourth time in the five-year history of the championship. The top-ranked Gauchos had a 7-1 lead in game five and were playing in front of a partisan crowd on their home floor when Perkins entered the match. He helped pull the Bruins even at 7-7, then broke a 9-9 tie by serving three more points in a row to give UCLA the lead for good. Mike Normand's block gave the Bruins a 15-12 victory and ended the marathon match. Normand, Jim Menges and Bob Leonard were named to the All-Tournament team from UCLA, which finished 30-5. Leonard was selected as the MVP.
1972
Trailing two games to none and 8-3 in the third game, the Bruins rallied for an improbable five-game victory over San Diego State to claim their third consecutive NCAA title. Not the dominant squad it was in 1970 and 1971, UCLA went 27-7 and was an underdog to the Aztecs and UC Santa Barbara in the Final Four at Ball State. But the Bruins beat the host team in four games in the semifinal while San Diego State took five games to edge the Gauchos. After dropping the first two games of the final 10-15, 9-15, the Bruins reeled off 12 of the last 13 points to win game three 15-9, then secured the title by winning the last two games 15-10, 15-7. All-America spiker Dick Irvin was the tourney's MVP. All-Tournament selection John Zajec also helped spark the comeback.
1971
The Bruins outlasted UC Santa Barbara in the NCAA title match before 5,041 fans at Pauley Pavilion - the largest indoor crowd in the sport's history. UCLA went 29-1 en route to its second consecutive championship, but had to fend off the Gauchos in each of the final two games while sweeping the title match, 15-6, 17-15, 17-15. Kirk Kilgour, Larry Griebenow and Eddie Machado were named All-Tournament selections. Kilgour shared Co-MVP honors with the Gaucho's Tim Bonynge.
1970
The Bruins won the first NCAA men's volleyball championship and began an invincible postseason string at Pauley Pavilion, winning a round-robin tournament, then sweeping UC Santa Barbara in the semifinals, and finally Long Beach State in the finals, 15-7, 15-4, 15-8. Dane Holtzman was named the championship's most outstanding player, and Kirk Kilgour and Ed Becker joined him on the All-Tournament team. UCLA was 24-1 overall and embarked on a stretch of 18 NCAA titles in 31 seasons under coach Al Scates.