The UCLA men’s volleyball team, ranked No. 1 in the nation, secured a 3-1 victory over No. 2 Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion. The win improved UCLA’s season record to 12-0 and marked their second win against Long Beach State this year.
Set scores were 25-15, 23-25, 27-25, and 26-24. The Bruins hit .447 as a team during the match. Cameron Thorne and Sean Kelly each recorded 13 kills for UCLA, while Zach Rama contributed with 12 kills. For Long Beach State, Skyler Varga led all players with 18 kills.
On defense, libero Chris Connelly had six digs and Thorne added six blocks. These efforts helped limit Long Beach State to a .277 hitting percentage.
In the first set, UCLA established an early lead and won decisively at 25-15 after building advantages of 8-2 and then 10-4. Rowan assisted Micah Wong Diallo for key points, and service aces from both Rowan and David Decker extended the margin before a service error by Varga ended the set.
Long Beach State took the second set narrowly at 26-24 after several lead changes between the teams.
UCLA responded in the third set with defensive plays from Thorne and Rowan that put them ahead. Despite a late rally from Long Beach State to tie at multiple points, UCLA clinched the set following another block from Thorne and Kelly.
The fourth set saw UCLA take an early lead again but Long Beach State narrowed it late in the frame. A kill by Kelly gave UCLA a brief advantage before Rama’s twelfth kill brought up match point for the Bruins. After trading service errors, a final attack error by Long Beach State ended the match in favor of UCLA.
UCLA will next play on the road against UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday evening, followed by an away match at UC Irvine on Friday evening. The game against UC Santa Barbara will be available for streaming on ESPN+.
