The UCLA men’s volleyball team secured a straight-set victory over Fort Valley State on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins, ranked No. 1, improved their season record to 5-0 and 1-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
UCLA finished with a .426 hitting percentage while holding Fort Valley State to .051, its lowest of the season. Zach Rama and Sean Kelly led the offense with nine kills each. Cameron Thorne and Grayson Bradford contributed six kills apiece.
Thirteen players saw action for UCLA during the match. Brogan Glenn, Jaidin Russell, and Filippos Chrysostomou made their season debuts. Glenn appeared in the third set, Chrysostomou recorded one dig, and Russell added two block assists.
In the first set, an ace by Decker gave UCLA an early lead at 6-5 as both teams exchanged points. A kill from Rama put UCLA ahead 15-12 before another ace from Decker extended the advantage to four points at 16-12. The Bruins took the first set 25-21 after a service error by Fort Valley State.
During the second set, UCLA tallied three service aces and recorded 11 block assists. Wong Diallo and Rowan combined for two blocks to give UCLA a slight edge at 6-5. Rowan assisted Thorne for a 12-10 lead, with Thorne contributing four kills in this set alone. Wong Diallo added three block assists.
Chrysostomou served as Russell and Kelly teamed up for a block that brought UCLA to set point at 24-15. Kelly then sealed the second set win with a kill off Trent Taliaferro’s assist for a final score of 25-17.
In the third set, UCLA hit .619 as Taliaferro directed most of the offense. Bradford scored all six of his kills in this frame, going six-for-seven on attempts; Kelly added five more kills while Rama had two.
A solo block by Wong Diallo put UCLA ahead 9-5 early in the third set before Taliaferro connected with Bradford to stretch the lead to nine points at 18-9. A service ace from Kelly followed by another Bradford kill increased their advantage to ten points before an attack error by Fort Valley State ended both the set (25-15) and match.
With this result, UCLA has now won four matches this season without dropping a single set.
Next up for UCLA is an away game against No. 11 UC San Diego on Friday night at 7 p.m., which will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
