MVB Puts Stanford Away in Four

The No. 2-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team (17-4, 6-1) returned to action after the exam break by posting a four-set Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) win over No. 6 Stanford (9-10, 2-5) on Friday night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Scores of the match were 25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18. It marked UCLA's sixth straight victory on the season and the 14^th consecutive home regular-season success in MPSF play.

Three Bruins checked in with a team-best 10 kills each – Cooper Robinson, Grant Sloane and Ethan Champlin. Andrew Rowan fired off two aces and added three kills and 35 set assists while the Bruins hit .327 on the night. Merrick McHenry added eight kills, hit above .400 for the 18^th straight contest (.667 tonight) and posted seven blocks. The same two teams will battle again on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom at 5 p.m. The 1974 Bruin Men's National Championship team and UCLA's USVBA Championship teams will be honored at the match.

UCLA started strong and built an 11-4 advantage in set one after three straight kills by Robinson who finished with five winners in the set. A kill from Champlin was followed by a spike and an ace by Sloane to make it 18-10. Another Sloane swing pushed the margin to 20-13. A Sloane/McHenry/Champlin block handed UCLA a 22-14 lead. McHenry's swing made it 23-15. Champlin's kill took UCLA to set point at 24-16. A Cardinal service error ended the set at 25-18. UCLA hit .480 for the frame.

Stanford moved to a 5-7 lead in set two. A Robinson kill and a Cardinal error evened the score at 9-all. The Bruins moved in front, 11-10, following an ace by Robinson. The score was then tied at points 11 through 14. Rowan's kill, following a great dig by Coleman McDonough, made it 16-14. However, Stanford rallied to knot the score at 18. The Bruins answered with three straight to go up 21-18. McHenry hung in the air before delivering a kill and a 23-20 lead. Champlin/McQuiggan/Sloane teamed up for a block and a 24-21 edge. The set ended on a Cardinal attack error for 25-22.

UCLA grabbed a 7-6 lead after a McHenry swing to open set three. The Cardinal then capitalized on Bruin errors to go up 9-12. A McHenry/Robinson block pulled UCLA to within one at 13-14. The Bruins tied the score at 16-all on a Sloane/McHenry/Robinson block. A Robinson kill broke the tie for 17-16. The score was then tied up at points 17 through 20. A Bruin error and a couple of Cardinal aces lifted the visitors into a 20-23 advantage. Zach Rama's ace narrowed the gap to 22-23. The Cardinal continued a strong service game and ended the set with an ace for a 22-25 decision. The Bruins hit just .103 for the frame.

The Bruins opened up a 10-5 lead to begin set four thanks in part to a service run from McQuiggan who registered and ace during the stretch. Stanford cut the margin to 12-8 after a couple of Bruin errors and then got hot again from the service line to trim the deficit to 14-12. Rama's back-to-back kills lifted UCLA into a 17-13 advantage. The Cardinal battled back to 18-16, but a service error and a Champlin cross court spike pushed UCLA in front 20-16. Rowan fired off an ace for 22-16 and Champlin crushed one straight down for 23-17. McHenry's swing put UCLA at set point at 24-18. A Rama kill followed to end the set.

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MVB Puts Stanford Away in Four

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Team Stats

Grant Sloane

Ethan Champlin

Cooper Robinson

Merrick McHenry

Players Mentioned

Ethan Champlin

Coleman McDonough

Merrick McHenry

Zach Rama

Cooper Robinson

Andrew Rowan

Grant Sloane

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

MVB Puts Stanford Away in Four

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Team Stats

Game Leaders

Grant Sloane

Ethan Champlin

Cooper Robinson

Merrick McHenry

Players Mentioned

Ethan Champlin

Coleman McDonough

Merrick McHenry

Zach Rama

Cooper Robinson

Andrew Rowan

Grant Sloane

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