After nearly doubling the points needed to win a regular set, No.1 UCLA Bruins men’s volleyball team (8-0, 2-0, MPSF) beat Ohio State’s Buckeyes (4-2, 0-0 MIVA), 48-46 in the second set, setting the record for the longest set in NCAA men’s volleyball history with an ace by senior setter Andrew Rowan. Having only lost to last year’s national championship team at Long Beach State, the Buckeyes came to UCLA ready to fight for at least one win against a SoCal school, but the Bruins were prepared to defend their clean record. The Bruins hosted the Buckeyes tonight at Pauley Pavilion, and after a hard-earned second set, wrapped up the game in three sets.
The first set was like any other set for a team playing against the Bruins for the first time. It took some time to get used to the Bruins, but the Buckeyes were quick to strategize and aim their attacks at Rowan, in hopes of keeping the Bruins out of the system, but the strong blocks put up by the offense remained a hurdle. When those attempts began to prove futile, the Buckeyes resorted to tipping the ball, which worked at first, but redshirt junior libero Christopher Connelly was there to sweep up the rest. Ohio State kept the Bruins on their toes and fast on their feet, trailing only one to two points behind before they inevitably fell to the Bruins’ offense. Soon after signaling his hitters with their individual sets, Rowan set junior middle blocker Micah Wong Diallo for the final set point, 25-21.
The second set was a test of endurance. After having already started with two free points after back-to-back Bruin net violations, a stuffed block from Ohio had the referee whistling at the Buckeyes on the bench to keep them from storming their teammates with cheers. The Bruins worked hard to tie the score, with a combination of backrow attacks by senior outside hitter Zach Rama and aces from sophomore outside hitter Sean Kelly. In an attempt to slow the Buckeyes down, spectating high school students had moved seats close enough to heckle the players at the serving line. Both teams were completely in sync with one another, and with a combination of individual team errors and intentional attacks, the game continued on. After twisting their heads back and forth between both teams, the crowd jumped to their feet, time and time again, as the Bruins continued to tally up 15 set points, and eventually ended the set 48-46.
The third and final set appeared to be a more mellowed-out version of the second set, with a shared number of errors and successful attacks from both teams; however, the Bruins were determined to maintain their hard-earned two-to-four-point lead. Towards the end of the set, senior middle blocker Cameron Thorne was seen crediting his kill to Connelly after his amazing dig that got the ball rolling on the play. Refusing to allow a repeat of the second set, the Bruins used the Buckeyes’ exhaustion to their advantage and wrapped up the match with a block, 25-20.
Up next, the Bruins will be playing away against Long Beach State next Friday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. PST.
__
Featured Image Photographed by Jaclyn Wang/BruinLife
