Friday, January 31
Columbus, OH
1 p.m. PT
UCLA
5-1,0-0MPSF
3
vs
0
No. 17 Penn State
0-5,0-0EIVA
1
2
3
F
UCLA
28
25
25
3
Penn St.
26
22
15
0
No. 3 Men's Volleyball Sweeps No. 17 Penn State, 3-0
January 31, 2025 | Men's Volleyball
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The No. 3 UCLA men's volleyball program earned a second consecutive sweep over No. 17 Penn State 3-0 on Friday afternoon to kick off the Big Ten Challenge hosted by Ohio State. Set scores were 28-26, 25-22, 25-15.
Cooper Robinson and Zach Rama finished in double digits in total kills with 15 and 10 respectively, while David Decker added eight kills on 12 swings. Andrew Rowan chipped in with 36 assists, while Decker and Cameron Thorne both had three blocks on the day. Decker and Kahale Clini also finished the day with a team-high two aces apiece.
In the first set, the Bruins opened up a 12-8 advantage midway through the set, courtesy of a 3-0 run capped off by a kill by Rama.
UCLA then made it 16-10 courtesy of a Robinson kill before two points later Thorne finished off a kill to put the Bruins up 17-11.
Later on in the set Kahale Clini forced an attack error from the Nittany Lions, putting UCLA up 20-14, forcing a Penn State timeout.
Out of the timeout, Penn State rattled off three points in a row to make it a 20-17 set, and the Bruins called a timeout of their own.
Out of the timeout Rama pulled a point back for the Bruins, but the Nittany Lions then took to make it 23-22 advantage to Penn State before Robinson tied it back up at 23-23.
The two sides would trade points before Robinson finished off the first set with his fifth kill of the match, giving UCLA set one, 28-26.
Penn State opened the second set with a 5-3 run to begin the second set, before continuing to push their advantage out to an 11-6 lead, and forced a John Hawks and UCLA timeout.
The Bruins cut it to three, 13-10, courtesy of a few Penn State attacking errors before the Bruins closed the gap to two points, 16-14, courtesy of a Kahale Clini ace before he recorded his second in a row to make it 16-15. David Decker then brought the Bruins back with UCLA's fourth ace of the afternoon, tying the set at 17-17.
The Bruins then finished the set on a 8-4 run to close out the second set 25-22 and took a 2-0 lead into the third set.
In the third set the Bruins opened up an 11-6 advantage courtesy of Thiago Zamprogno recording UCLA's fifth ace of the afternoon. UCLA then pushed their lead to seven, 16-9, courtesy of Zach Rama from the back row.
The Bruins took an 18-11 lead courtesy of a scramble at the net. Decker dove for a great dig before Rama set up Robinson for the kill.
The Bruins controlled the pace for the remainder of the set and forced a trio of attack errors from Penn State to close the match, winning the final set 25-15, and the match overall 3-0.
Up Next: The Bruins close play at the B1G Challenge against No. 13 Ohio State on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 4 pm PT from the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. Fans can watch the match on B1G+.
Cooper Robinson and Zach Rama finished in double digits in total kills with 15 and 10 respectively, while David Decker added eight kills on 12 swings. Andrew Rowan chipped in with 36 assists, while Decker and Cameron Thorne both had three blocks on the day. Decker and Kahale Clini also finished the day with a team-high two aces apiece.
In the first set, the Bruins opened up a 12-8 advantage midway through the set, courtesy of a 3-0 run capped off by a kill by Rama.
UCLA then made it 16-10 courtesy of a Robinson kill before two points later Thorne finished off a kill to put the Bruins up 17-11.
Later on in the set Kahale Clini forced an attack error from the Nittany Lions, putting UCLA up 20-14, forcing a Penn State timeout.
Out of the timeout, Penn State rattled off three points in a row to make it a 20-17 set, and the Bruins called a timeout of their own.
Out of the timeout Rama pulled a point back for the Bruins, but the Nittany Lions then took to make it 23-22 advantage to Penn State before Robinson tied it back up at 23-23.
The two sides would trade points before Robinson finished off the first set with his fifth kill of the match, giving UCLA set one, 28-26.
Penn State opened the second set with a 5-3 run to begin the second set, before continuing to push their advantage out to an 11-6 lead, and forced a John Hawks and UCLA timeout.
The Bruins cut it to three, 13-10, courtesy of a few Penn State attacking errors before the Bruins closed the gap to two points, 16-14, courtesy of a Kahale Clini ace before he recorded his second in a row to make it 16-15. David Decker then brought the Bruins back with UCLA's fourth ace of the afternoon, tying the set at 17-17.
David Decker ACE!
— UCLA M. Volleyball (@UCLAMVB) January 31, 2025
We're tied in set 2, 17-17!
??: B1G+#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/cjgzn9zVEX
The Bruins then finished the set on a 8-4 run to close out the second set 25-22 and took a 2-0 lead into the third set.
In the third set the Bruins opened up an 11-6 advantage courtesy of Thiago Zamprogno recording UCLA's fifth ace of the afternoon. UCLA then pushed their lead to seven, 16-9, courtesy of Zach Rama from the back row.
The Bruins took an 18-11 lead courtesy of a scramble at the net. Decker dove for a great dig before Rama set up Robinson for the kill.
Reason's why we love volleyball ??
— UCLA M. Volleyball (@UCLAMVB) January 31, 2025
??: B1G+#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/dhIO5gGbcM
The Bruins controlled the pace for the remainder of the set and forced a trio of attack errors from Penn State to close the match, winning the final set 25-15, and the match overall 3-0.
Up Next: The Bruins close play at the B1G Challenge against No. 13 Ohio State on Saturday. First serve is scheduled for 4 pm PT from the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. Fans can watch the match on B1G+.
Team Stats
UCLA
PSU
Kills
41
27
Errors
10
16
Attempts
69
64
Hitting %
.449
.172
Points
53.5
36.0
Assists
39
26
Aces
6
5
Blocks
6.5
4
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
15
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
8
Aces
2
Blocks
3
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
Opp
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's VolleyballS
/ Men's VolleyballMB
/ Men's VolleyballMB
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