Friday, April 11
Los Angeles, CA
7 p.m. PT

UCLA

18-4,8-1MPSF

3
vs
2

No. 7 BYU

17-8,5-4MPSF

1
2
3
4
5
F
BYU
25
15
21
27
17
2
UCLA
22
25
25
25
19
3
Andrew Rowan

No. 2 UCLA Men's Volleyball Beats No. 7 BYU in Five Sets, 3-2

April 11, 2025 | Men's Volleyball

LOS ANGELES – The No. 2 UCLA men's volleyball team earned a five-set win over No. 7 BYU on Friday night inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial. Set scores were 22-25, 25-25, 25-21, 25-27, 19-17.

UCLA (18-4, 8-1 MPSF) hit .408 as a team on Friday with Sean Kelly leading the way with 13 kills and a .571 hitting percentage. Zach Rama paced UCLA with 18 kills, while Cooper Robinson added 14, as three Bruins finished in double digit kills.

Andrew Rowan dished out a season-high 55 assists in the win, while UCLA recorded 12 service aces on the night. With his 55 assists, Rowan is up to 2,965 career assists.  

Defensively, Sean McQuiggan tallied two solo blocks and four block assists on the night.

In the first set the Cougars (17-8, 5-4 MPSF) opened up a 12-9 lead, despite the Bruins tallying three aces early on. BYU then took a 18-13 before the Bruins used a 3-0 run to get back into the set. That 3-0 run was capped by a McQuiggan solo block.

Later on in the set BYU extended their lead to 23-20 before the Bruins made it 24-22 courtesy of service error by BYU before the Cougars earned the first set 25-22.

As for the second set, the Bruins responded and opened up a 13-10 advantage when Thorne slammed home a kill.

A huge block by McQuiggan and Zach Rama put UCLA up 16-12 before Thorne added an ace to put UCLA up by five, 17-12.

With UCLA up 20-15, Kahale Clini came in as a serving sub and helped the Bruins go on a 6-0 run to take the set 25-15. Clini provided two service aces during that run as the Bruins evened the match at 1-1 heading to the third set.

In the third set, the Bruins and Cougars battled back and forth to begin the set, with neither team taking more than a two-point lead. UCLA then took an 18-15 lead when Sean Kelly provided UCLA's 11th ace of the match before McQuiggan added another kill to put the Bruins up 20-16.

McQuiggan tallied his fourth kill of the night to put the Bruins up 21-18. Kelly continued his strong night with his seventh kill to put UCLA up 24-21. Rowan then ended the set on the next point with a tip off the BYU block to give UCLA the set two win 25-21, and a 2-1 lead overall in the match.

As for the fourth set the two sides traded points before a BYU service error gave the Bruins a 7-5 lead. BYU tied things up at 13-13 before a triple block by Kelly, Rowan, and Thorne pushed UCLA's advantage to 14-13.

Robinson tallied his ninth kill of the night to push the Bruins up 15-13 before the Cougars battled back to tie it at 17-17. BYU took a 22-21 lead before Kelly added another kill to tie it at 22-22.

BYU pushed took a 24-23 lead and had set point before Rama slammed home a kill to tie it at 24-24. BYU then took the fourth set 27-25 and evened the match at 2-2 heading to the fifth set.

As for the fifth set UCLA roared out to a 4-0 lead as Rowan tallied the Bruins' 12th service ace of the night. The Bruins then extended the lead to 8-3 as Thorne recorded his eighth kill of the night.

McQuiggan continued his dominance at the net and added another kill to his tally to push UCLA's lead to 11-7.

BYU went on a run of their own to tie the set at 12-12 as a Bruins block attempt fell out of bounds to tie the set. The Cougars then earned their first lead of the set on the next point to take a 13-12 lead.

The Bruins tied it at 14-14 with Kelly finding the back corner before a Thorne kill gave UCLA the lead at 15-14. BYU tied it at 15-15 before another Thorne kill put the Bruins back up 16-15.

BYU then rattled off back-to-back points to make it match point Cougars at 17-16 before Robinson re-tied the set.

A Cougars attack error gave UCLA match point at 18-17 before a McQuiggan and Robinson block ended the match at 19-17 and the Bruins earned a 3 sets to 2 win.

Up Next: UCLA hosts BYU on Saturday night at 5 pm PT. The match will also be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

 

Team Stats

BYU
UCLA
Kills
51
64
Errors
19
15
Attempts
124
120
Hitting %
.258
.408
Points
65.0
88.0
Assists
48
61
Aces
6
12
Blocks
8
12

Game Leaders

Kills
18
Aces
1
Blocks
3
Kills
14
Aces
3
Blocks
1
Kills
13
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
4

Players Mentioned

OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
Highlights - Men's Volleyball vs. Hawai'i, NCAA Semifinals (May 10, 2025)
Sunday, May 11
Highlights - Men's Volleyball vs. Belmont Abbey, NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals (May 8, 2025)
Thursday, May 08
Men’s Volleyball - NCAA Travel Day Vlog ft. Matthew Aziz
Wednesday, May 07
Highlights - UCLA Men's Volleyball vs. #5 USC (4/17/25)
Friday, April 18