No. 1 Bruins Beat Vanguard, 3-0

Saturday, February 7

Costa Mesa, CA

7:00 pm (PT)

UCLA

Vanguard

Luca Curci, Micah Wong Diallo, David Decker

No. 1 Bruins Beat Vanguard, 3-0

January 27, 2026 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score (PDF)

LOS ANGELES – The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball program earned a sixth sweep in seven matches to begin the 2026 season, taking down Vanguard, 3-0.

Sean Kelly led the Bruins with 16 kills and hit .500 on the night. Andrew Rowan paced the Bruins offense to a .381 hitting percentage and tallied 28 assists on the night.

The Bruins had a strong blocking performance on Tuesday, recording 17 total blocks, including three solo blocks. Luca Curci led the way with four block assists and a solo block on the night.

Three kills in a row from sophomore Sean Kelly pushed the Bruins out to a 7-4 advantage early on in the opening set. The Bruins went on a 3-0 run where Thorne added a kill before a Curci and Thorne combined for a block, which was followed by another block, this time a triple block by Curci, Wong Diallo, and David Decker pushed the Bruins in front 10-6.

UCLA closed the set on a 6-0 scoring run. Another 3-0 scoring run for the Bruins put UCLA up 22-17. Decker added two service aces, and the Lions hit an attack error to put the Bruins up five. That was followed by another mini 3-0 run as Kelly and Wong Diallo combined for a block, before an attack error from the Lions gave the Bruins the opening set, 25-17.

Vanguard pushed out to a 10-8 lead before the Bruins rattled off three straight points. Luca Curci tallied a kill before two attack errors from Vanguard put UCLA in front, 11-10.

Back-to-back kills from Kelly pushed UCLA's lead to three, 13-10, before a Wong Diallo ace made it 14-10 Bruins.

The Lions made it a 16-15 game before a service error from Vanguard gave UCLA the two-point buffer, 17-15.

A Curci solo block, followed by a Decker kill, got the Bruins to the 20-point plateau, before a Lions attack error made it 21-18 UCLA. The Bruins closed out the set from there, taking the second set 25-21, and a 2-0 sets lead.

As for the third set, the Bruins fell behind early, but utilized a 4-0 run to take a 14-12 lead halfway through. Christopher Hersh and Curci combined for the block to make it a 17-15 lead for the Bruins.

The Bruins continued to put the pressure on Vanguard and took a 23-20 advantage. Rowan then found Thorne two times in a row to end the match, giving the Bruins the set 25-20, and the match 3-0.

Up Next: The Bruins host No. 13 Ohio State on Thursday evening. First serve is set for 7 pm PT and the match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.