Thursday, April 20
Stanford, CA
4:30 PM
UCLA
28-2,12-0MPSF
3
vs
0
Grand Canyon
22-7,6-6MPSF
1
2
3
F
Grand Canyon
23
19
20
0
UCLA
25
25
25
3
Photo by: Glen Mitchell / Stanford Athletics
MVB Advances to MPSF Championship Match
April 20, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
The top-seeded UCLA men's volleyball team (28-2) swept past fourth-seeded Grand Canyon (22-7) for its ninth straight win in a semifinal match on Thursday evening at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament being held at Stanford. Scores of the match were 25-23, 25-19, 25-20. The Bruins advance to Saturday's MPSF Championship match against third-seeded Stanford which defeated second-seed BYU in five sets and will be seeking their first MPSF Tournament title since 2006.
UCLA outhit the Antelopes .456 to .235 for the match with Ido David leading the attack with 15 kills. Merrick McHenry supplied 10 kills on 12 swings without an error for a career-best .909 swing percentage and added a team-high six blocks. Ethan Champlin recorded his 13th double-digit match of the season with 12 kills. Each team had five aces, with Andrew Rowan and Alex Knight firing off a pair each for UCLA. Rowan now has at least one ace in 18 of the last 19 matches and set the team to a .400-plus hitting percentage for the 13th time this season. Troy Gooch led UCLA with five digs. The 3-0 win marked the 19th time this season the Bruins have won in straight sets which is the most since it totaled 20 in the 1998 season. The 28 wins on the season is the most by a UCLA team since it went 29-5 in 2000.
In set one, UCLA opened up a 7-4 lead after a kill by Champlin. Grand Canyon closed to 10-9 after a kill. The Bruins then tallied three of the next four points to go up 13-10. The Antelopes responded behind a strong service run to take the lead at 14-17. UCLA narrowed the deficit to 17-18 following a David kill, but GCU rallied to score the next two points for a 17-20 advantage. A pair of Champlin spikes narrowed the gap to 20-21. McHenry's swing made it 21-22. Rowan then stepped to the service line and delivered an ace to even the score at 22. Champlin spiked another ball to put the Bruins in front, at 23-22. McHenry followed with two kills for a 25-23 win. The Bruins hit .417 for the frame.
Consecutive kills by Knight and David pushed UCLA in front 8-5 to begin set two. Knight's ace extended the margin to 11-6. GCU closed to 13-10. The Bruins scored four of the next five points for a 17-11 advantage following a kill by Champlin and McHenry's 18th solo block of the season. Knight's spike made it 19-13. Grand Canyon rallied once again to narrow the gap to 20-19. J.R. Norris IV's kill ended that run. Knight followed up with another ace and UCLA led 23-19 after a Rowan block solo. A GCU error and a Champlin kill ended the set at 25-20 for the Bruins.
UCLA opened up an 8-3 lead to begin set three after a Knight / McHenry block. Champlin's spike made it 11-5. Rowan's kill put the Bruins up 14-9. David's swing left UCLA in front 18-11. Grand Canyon then won five straight points to slice reduce the gap to 18-16. Zach Rama's kill ended the GCU run. Champlin's smash made it 21-17. A Cole Ketrzynski / McHenry block pushed the margin to 23-17. David's swing gave UCLA set point and McHenry ended the frame and the match with a kill for a 25-20 win.
The Bruins last advanced the MPSF Championship match in the 2018 season when it lost in four sets at BYU. UCLA also lost to BYU in four sets in the 2016 league championship match in Provo. The last time the Bruins won the MPSF Tournament was in 2006 when it bested Long Beach State in four sets at UC Irvine and then advanced to win its 19th NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship.
UCLA outhit the Antelopes .456 to .235 for the match with Ido David leading the attack with 15 kills. Merrick McHenry supplied 10 kills on 12 swings without an error for a career-best .909 swing percentage and added a team-high six blocks. Ethan Champlin recorded his 13th double-digit match of the season with 12 kills. Each team had five aces, with Andrew Rowan and Alex Knight firing off a pair each for UCLA. Rowan now has at least one ace in 18 of the last 19 matches and set the team to a .400-plus hitting percentage for the 13th time this season. Troy Gooch led UCLA with five digs. The 3-0 win marked the 19th time this season the Bruins have won in straight sets which is the most since it totaled 20 in the 1998 season. The 28 wins on the season is the most by a UCLA team since it went 29-5 in 2000.
In set one, UCLA opened up a 7-4 lead after a kill by Champlin. Grand Canyon closed to 10-9 after a kill. The Bruins then tallied three of the next four points to go up 13-10. The Antelopes responded behind a strong service run to take the lead at 14-17. UCLA narrowed the deficit to 17-18 following a David kill, but GCU rallied to score the next two points for a 17-20 advantage. A pair of Champlin spikes narrowed the gap to 20-21. McHenry's swing made it 21-22. Rowan then stepped to the service line and delivered an ace to even the score at 22. Champlin spiked another ball to put the Bruins in front, at 23-22. McHenry followed with two kills for a 25-23 win. The Bruins hit .417 for the frame.
Consecutive kills by Knight and David pushed UCLA in front 8-5 to begin set two. Knight's ace extended the margin to 11-6. GCU closed to 13-10. The Bruins scored four of the next five points for a 17-11 advantage following a kill by Champlin and McHenry's 18th solo block of the season. Knight's spike made it 19-13. Grand Canyon rallied once again to narrow the gap to 20-19. J.R. Norris IV's kill ended that run. Knight followed up with another ace and UCLA led 23-19 after a Rowan block solo. A GCU error and a Champlin kill ended the set at 25-20 for the Bruins.
UCLA opened up an 8-3 lead to begin set three after a Knight / McHenry block. Champlin's spike made it 11-5. Rowan's kill put the Bruins up 14-9. David's swing left UCLA in front 18-11. Grand Canyon then won five straight points to slice reduce the gap to 18-16. Zach Rama's kill ended the GCU run. Champlin's smash made it 21-17. A Cole Ketrzynski / McHenry block pushed the margin to 23-17. David's swing gave UCLA set point and McHenry ended the frame and the match with a kill for a 25-20 win.
The Bruins last advanced the MPSF Championship match in the 2018 season when it lost in four sets at BYU. UCLA also lost to BYU in four sets in the 2016 league championship match in Provo. The last time the Bruins won the MPSF Tournament was in 2006 when it bested Long Beach State in four sets at UC Irvine and then advanced to win its 19th NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship.
Team Stats
GCU
UCLA
Kills
34
46
Errors
15
10
Attempts
81
79
Hitting %
.235
.456
Points
47.5
59.0
Assists
32
44
Aces
5
5
Blocks
8.5
8
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
6
Kills
4
Aces
2
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's Volleyball
OH/Opp
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
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