No.1 UCLA men’s volleyball (6-0, 1-0 MPSF) continued their dominant start to the NCAA season by earning their 3-0 victory in La Jolla on Friday night by taking down No.11 UC San Diego (3-3, 0-0 Big West) in three sets. The set scores were 25-21, 25-21, 28-26.
The Bruins jumped to an early advantage in Set 1, setting the tone for the rest of the game. UCLA’s hitting efficiency of .316 to UCSD’s .111 put them in control from the beginning, and they were able to maintain this momentum to eventually take the win.
Senior outside hitter Zach Rama and sophomore outside hitter Sean Kelly led UCLA in kills for this game, scoring 16 and 11 respectively. Rama consolidated his status in professional volleyball as he also led the points at 16.5 in this game, whilst players such as junior middle Micah Wong Diallo led in total blocks and hitting percentage, and senior setter Andrew Rowan in assists and service aces.
The Bruins displayed their strong teamwork not only in their ability to dominate this game, but also their support of each other. Kelly said of Rowan, “Whenever we’re not feeling fully there, it’s easy to talk to him. He’s great at adjusting”, referring to Rowan’s leadership and ability to help the Bruins stay steady on the court. This teamwork and alignment demonstrates their collaboration on and off the court to help them win and support each other.
The first set saw a closer competition between the teams, however UCLA started to draw away more significantly in the later sets. The Bruins kept their composure as their hitting efficiency increased to .400% in the second set and .500% in the third. UCLA had a steady and consistent strategy to help them win this game, as they inched away from UCSD with each set to eventually win.
Both teams stepped up their game in the third set after the tight score of 25-21 in both of the previous sets. The third saw a score of of 28-26 as the game intensified and UCLA made a game-high kill score of 20 and 36 attack attempts. Their endurance to fight to the end with minimal attack errors reinforces their consistency and efficiency in this game.
Before the match, UCLA’s head coach John Hawks stated “I trust our guys 100% to go and perform when it matters,” which is exactly what the UCLA team did this Friday evening. Their ability to stay consistent with their scoring and drive home on the last set displays their endurance and trust in each other to win.
UCLA looks forward to its match against Vanguard on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. PST, taking confidence from this match away into future games.
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Featured Image via BruinLife Archives
