The UCLA men’s volleyball team, currently ranked No. 1 in the nation, is set to face No. 5 USC on Tuesday night at the Galen Center. The match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.
Recently, UCLA secured a comeback victory against No. 4 UC Irvine, winning 3-2 in a non-conference match held at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center. Set scores were 25-22, 20-25, 28-30, 25-22, and 15-11. Zach Rama led with 20 kills, Sean Kelly achieved a career-high of 19 kills, and David Decker contributed 12 kills.
Last week, UCLA also defeated No. 2 Long Beach State in two matches—first with a home win (3-1) led by Cameron Thorne’s 13 kills and six blocks and setter Andrew Rowan guiding the team to a .477 hitting percentage before over 4,800 fans; then an away reverse sweep (3-2), overcoming an initial two-set deficit behind Rama’s 21 kills and Rowan’s decisive service ace.
Senior outside hitter Zach Rama and senior setter Andrew Rowan have been named to the AVCA National Player of the Year Watch List. “Rama… has started the 2026 season strongly for the Bruins,” according to conference officials. He leads nationally in kills per set (4.77), is fourth in points per set (5.16), and ranks tenth in hitting percentage (.438). Rowan is described as “no stranger to AVCA accolades,” already earning three-time first-team All-American honors while leading the nation in assists per set (12.72) and fifth in aces per set (.720).
UCLA has opened its season with a perfect record of 14-0 for the first time since starting out at least that strong in their championship run of 1998.
In their sweep over Ohio State last Thursday night, UCLA won a historic second set by a score of 48-46—a new NCAA record for most points scored in a single set—lasting nearly an hour with seventeen set points before ending on an Andrew Rowan service ace.
Zach Rama was recently named both AVCA National Player of the Week and MPSF Offensive Player of the Week after leading his team through wins against Ball State and Loyola Chicago at Phoenix’s First Point Collegiate Challenge: “He averaged 5.71 kills per set… totaled forty kills and hit .515 over two matches.” In those games he recorded double-digit kill performances including a career-high twenty-three against Loyola Chicago.
Rama also earned MPSF Offensive Player of the Week honors for week one by averaging four-and-a-half kills per set across straight-set victories versus McKendree and Concordia.
Setter Andrew Rowan has directed UCLA’s offense to sustained efficiency this year with more than five hundred fifty assists across fourteen matches—an average exceeding eleven assists per set—and reached as many as fifty-eight assists during one match against Ohio State.
The Bruins are among national leaders early this season: second overall in both kills per set (13.73) and hitting percentage (.405), while topping all teams nationally with thirteen assists per set; individually Rowan leads all setters at eleven-and-a-half assists per frame while Rama ranks third nationally for his offensive output.
Middle blockers Cameron Thorne—a two-time AVCA first-team All-American—and Micah Wong Diallo have contributed significantly early this season: Thorne boasts a .581 hitting percentage through thirteen matches; Wong Diallo is hitting .511 as he steps into his first starting role as junior.
Reviewing last season (2025), UCLA reached its third consecutive NCAA Championship final appearance—its fourth straight Final Four—and finished atop MPSF regular-season standings for five years running (source). Four players received AVCA All-America recognition; Cooper Robinson was named MPSF Player of the Year; head coach John Hawks joined rising sophomore Sean Kelly representing Team USA at U21 World Championships where they earned bronze—the first medal ever for USA youth men’s volleyball on that stage.
So far this year UCLA has swept ten out of fourteen opponents—including six ranked teams such as McKendree (#15), Loyola Chicago (#6), UC San Diego (#11), Ohio State (#12), CSUN (#17), and UC Santa Barbara (#12).
Career highlights include David Decker posting twenty-two kills against Ball State followed by Rama’s twenty-three-kill performance versus Loyola Chicago on consecutive nights during January’s Phoenix tournament series.
Since late in the 2022 season, UCLA has compiled forty-four wins out of forty-eight conference matches—a winning rate above ninety percent—with near-perfect records each year from ‘22 onward.
UCLA was selected first overall both in preseason AVCA Coaches Poll—with twelve top votes—and again predicted by coaches to repeat as MPSF champions this spring; seven returning student-athletes bring NCAA title-winning experience back into this campaign along with several decorated freshmen recruits joining from successful high school or international backgrounds.
