The UCLA men’s volleyball team secured a 3-0 victory against UC San Diego on Friday night at LionTree Arena. Zach Rama led the Bruins with 16 kills during the match.
UCLA, currently ranked No. 1, improved their season record to 6-0 and opened their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play with a win. The team posted a hitting percentage of .429, while holding No. 11-ranked UC San Diego to .238.
In the third set, UCLA was down 24-22 but managed to tie it at 24-24. Setter Andrew Rowan played a key role at the service line, helping the Bruins recover from the deficit. “With setter Andrew Rowan at the service line, the Bruins put pressure on the Tritons, forcing an overpass which allowed Rowan to find Sean Kelly to get the Bruins within one, 24-23. After digging the Tritons’ next attack, Rowan found Rama, who slammed his kill home to tie the set at 24-24.” In overtime of that set, UCLA came back from being behind again and closed out with three consecutive points for a final score of 28-26 in that set.
The opening set saw UCLA come back from an early deficit to win 25-19 after an 8-4 run capped by an ace from Rowan and a kill by Cameron Thorne. In the second set, UCLA took control following kills by Rama and Micah Wong Diallo’s block to lead at 7-6 and then extended their advantage before closing out that set with another strong finish for a score of 25-21.
This win marks UCLA’s fifth sweep in its first six matches this season.
UCLA will return home for its next match against Vanguard on Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. PT start and will be broadcast on B1G+.
