Saturday, April 22
Stanford, CA
6:00 PM
UCLA
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Stanford
15-13,6-6MPSF
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UCLA
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The 2023 MPSF MVB Champs
Photo by: Stanford Athletics
MVB Captures MPSF Tournament Championship
April 22, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
The top-seeded UCLA men's volleyball team (29-2) captured the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament title for the first time since 2006 when it topped third-seeded Stanford (15-13) on Saturday night in Maples Pavilion. Scores of the match were 25-22, 25-21, 25-23. In recording its 10th straight win, UCLA earns the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship. The bracket will be announced on Sunday morning at 10 a.m. on ncaa.com.
Middle blocker Merrick McHenry led the UCLA attack with 10 kills on 12 swings without an error for a .833 attack percentage as the Bruins out hit the Cardinal .373 to .173. It marked the 14th time this season that an opponent has been held below .200. Ido David and Ethan Champlin added seven kills and an ace apiece. Andrew Rowan added three aces and has now registered at least one ace in 19 of the last 20 matches. Troy Gooch added a team-high seven digs.
UCLA moved out to a 7-5 edge to begin set one after an ace by Rowan. Alex Knight's swing made it 10-8. Champlin's spike put UCLA up 13-11. After Stanford rallied to even the score at 13-all, UCLA capitalized on a Cardinal service error and another ace by Rowan for a 15-13 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Champlin handed UCLA a 17-14 advantage. A block by Knight / Guy Genis put the Bruins up 18-14. J.R. Norris IV's swing made it 19-15. A Bruin service error, attack error and Cardinal block pulled Stanford to within one, at 20-19. Zach Rama stopped the run with a kill. A Cardinal kill once again reduced the lead to one. Champlin answered with a kill for 22-20. A bad Cardinal set put UCLA up 23-20. The teams then traded a series of service errors which resulted in a 25-22 Bruin win. UCLA hit .550 in the frame to .375 for the Cardinal.
Champlin's strong serve provided a 5-0 Bruin run to supply a 6-3 lead in set two. The Cardinal tallied three of the next four points to make it 7-6. A block solo by Champlin made it 12-8. McHenry's kill put UCLA up 14-10. Stanford closed to 15-14, but two Cardinal errors followed to put UCLA ahead by three. The Cardinal rallied to even the score at 19-all on an ace. The Bruins responded with four straight points from a McHenry kill, a David kill, a Champlin/McHenry/David block and a Cardinal error for a 23-19 edge. A Champlin / McHenry block handed UCLA set point. A setting error made it 24-21, but Stanford returned the favor with a service error to finish off the set at 25-21.
Stanford grabbed a 5-7 lead early in set three. UCLA tied the score at 9-all following a Rowan ace. The Cardinal used a Bruin service error and a kill to go up 13-15 at the media timeout. Another Cardinal ace grew the gap to 14-17. A kill by Norris, a service error and a Champlin kill pulled UCLA to within one, at 17-18. A Champlin swing keyed a three-point run along with a block by Knight / McHenry and a Champlin ace to put UCLA in front 20-19. The score was then tied at points 21 and 22. Consecutive kills by Norris put UCLA at set point, at 24-22. A Stanford kill made it 24-23. David's seventh kill of the match ended the contest at 25-23.
UCLA now has won 29 matches on the season for the first time since it went 29-5 on the way to winning the National Championship in 2000. The 3-0 win over the Cardinal marked the 20th Bruin sweep of the season which is the most by a UCLA team since the 1998 squad also had 20 wins in straight sets.
In other Conference championship matches played on Saturday, Penn State (26-3) captured the championship of the EIVA Conference and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating Princeton in three sets. Ohio State (22-9) won its 11th straight match to win the MIVA Conference title and advance to the NCAA's with a decision over Ball State. King (16-15) won the championship of the Conference Carolinas Tournament in five sets over North Greenville to also advance to the national championship tournament. Later tonight, UC Irvine hosts top-ranked Hawai'i in a battle for the Big West Conference's automatic bid. The full seven-team bracket of the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship will be announced on ncaa.com on Sunday at 10 a.m.
2023 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Tournament Team
Merrick McHenry - UCLA – MVP
Andrew Rowan - UCLA
Ido David - UCLA
Justin Lui – Stanford
Will Rottman – Stanford
Heath Hughes – BYU
Christian Janke – Grand Canyon
Middle blocker Merrick McHenry led the UCLA attack with 10 kills on 12 swings without an error for a .833 attack percentage as the Bruins out hit the Cardinal .373 to .173. It marked the 14th time this season that an opponent has been held below .200. Ido David and Ethan Champlin added seven kills and an ace apiece. Andrew Rowan added three aces and has now registered at least one ace in 19 of the last 20 matches. Troy Gooch added a team-high seven digs.
UCLA moved out to a 7-5 edge to begin set one after an ace by Rowan. Alex Knight's swing made it 10-8. Champlin's spike put UCLA up 13-11. After Stanford rallied to even the score at 13-all, UCLA capitalized on a Cardinal service error and another ace by Rowan for a 15-13 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Champlin handed UCLA a 17-14 advantage. A block by Knight / Guy Genis put the Bruins up 18-14. J.R. Norris IV's swing made it 19-15. A Bruin service error, attack error and Cardinal block pulled Stanford to within one, at 20-19. Zach Rama stopped the run with a kill. A Cardinal kill once again reduced the lead to one. Champlin answered with a kill for 22-20. A bad Cardinal set put UCLA up 23-20. The teams then traded a series of service errors which resulted in a 25-22 Bruin win. UCLA hit .550 in the frame to .375 for the Cardinal.
Champlin's strong serve provided a 5-0 Bruin run to supply a 6-3 lead in set two. The Cardinal tallied three of the next four points to make it 7-6. A block solo by Champlin made it 12-8. McHenry's kill put UCLA up 14-10. Stanford closed to 15-14, but two Cardinal errors followed to put UCLA ahead by three. The Cardinal rallied to even the score at 19-all on an ace. The Bruins responded with four straight points from a McHenry kill, a David kill, a Champlin/McHenry/David block and a Cardinal error for a 23-19 edge. A Champlin / McHenry block handed UCLA set point. A setting error made it 24-21, but Stanford returned the favor with a service error to finish off the set at 25-21.
Stanford grabbed a 5-7 lead early in set three. UCLA tied the score at 9-all following a Rowan ace. The Cardinal used a Bruin service error and a kill to go up 13-15 at the media timeout. Another Cardinal ace grew the gap to 14-17. A kill by Norris, a service error and a Champlin kill pulled UCLA to within one, at 17-18. A Champlin swing keyed a three-point run along with a block by Knight / McHenry and a Champlin ace to put UCLA in front 20-19. The score was then tied at points 21 and 22. Consecutive kills by Norris put UCLA at set point, at 24-22. A Stanford kill made it 24-23. David's seventh kill of the match ended the contest at 25-23.
UCLA now has won 29 matches on the season for the first time since it went 29-5 on the way to winning the National Championship in 2000. The 3-0 win over the Cardinal marked the 20th Bruin sweep of the season which is the most by a UCLA team since the 1998 squad also had 20 wins in straight sets.
In other Conference championship matches played on Saturday, Penn State (26-3) captured the championship of the EIVA Conference and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by defeating Princeton in three sets. Ohio State (22-9) won its 11th straight match to win the MIVA Conference title and advance to the NCAA's with a decision over Ball State. King (16-15) won the championship of the Conference Carolinas Tournament in five sets over North Greenville to also advance to the national championship tournament. Later tonight, UC Irvine hosts top-ranked Hawai'i in a battle for the Big West Conference's automatic bid. The full seven-team bracket of the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship will be announced on ncaa.com on Sunday at 10 a.m.
2023 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation All-Tournament Team
Merrick McHenry - UCLA – MVP
Andrew Rowan - UCLA
Ido David - UCLA
Justin Lui – Stanford
Will Rottman – Stanford
Heath Hughes – BYU
Christian Janke – Grand Canyon
Team Stats
UCLA
Stan
Kills
39
29
Errors
11
16
Attempts
75
75
Hitting %
.373
.173
Points
54.0
40.5
Assists
38
28
Aces
5
7
Blocks
10
4.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
1
Blocks
4
Kills
5
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
L
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
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