MVB Comes All the Way Back To Down BYU

The No. 1 UCLA men's volleyball team (21-3, 11-1) produced a reverse sweep at BYU (8-16, 3-9) in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) regular season finale played before over 4,000 fans in Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. Scores of the match were 26-28, 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-9. Combined with UCLA's four-set victory on Friday, this win marked the first time a Bruin team had captured matches on back-to-back nights at BYU since the 1997 season. Next up for the Bruins is the MPSF Tournament. UCLA will play its first match on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the semifinal round in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.
 
Ido David delivered a career-high 24 kills off the bench in the win, highest total by a Bruin player this season and most by a UCLA freshman player since JT Hatch put down 25 balls against USC in 2014. Alex Knight added a season-high 14 kills to go with seven set assists, six digs and two blocks. UCLA hit .438 for the match to mark itts 14th straight contest hitting at least .300 and the eighth time in that stretch with at least a .400 hitting percentage.
 
After BYU tallied the first three points of the first set, UCLA rallied to even the score at 4-all on a Merrick McHenry/Ethan Champlin block. The Cougars then moved to a 8-10 advantage before UCLA came back to level the score at 11-all on a Champlin swing. The Bruins used the serve of Miles Partain to help move in front 16-13. The Bruins led 19-16 after another Champlin kill. However, BYU responded with five of the next seven points to tie the score at 21. When BYU took a 23-24 lead, Knight saved two set points with kills and tied the score at 26. The Cougars recorded the next two to win the set 26-28.
 
In set two, BYU shot out to a 3-6 lead. UCLA closed to 9-10 before the Cougars rattled off six straight behind a strong service game to go up 9-16. The Bruins narrowed the gap to 15-19 on a kill by Knight. David's kill shrunk the deficit to 18-21. Champlin's spike made it 19-22. Another David swing put UCLA down 20-23. A Cougar kill and a Bruin attack error gave BYU to set at 20-25.
 
The Cougars went up 4-7 to begin set three. UCLA closed to 7-8 after a David kill. A Champlin spike made it 11-12. David's kill evened the score at 13-all. A Knight swing leveled the score at 17-all. Miles Partain's kill put UCLA in front 19-18. A Knight/David block gave UCLA a 21-20 lead. J.R. Norris IV's kill lifted UCLA into a 23-21 edge. David's kill put UCLA at set point, 24-22. After the teams traded service errors the Bruins had a 25-23 win. David led UCLA with nine kills in the frame.
 
Back-to-back kills by David sent UCLA ahead 6-4 in set four. BYU answered with a run to take a 9-11 edge. Another David kill evened the score 15-all. Knight's swing pushed UCLA in front 17-16. Consecutive kills by Knight, David and Champlin left UCLA up 20-17. A couple of more kills by David, his seventh and eighth of the frame, ended the set at 25-22.
 
Two straight kills by Miles Partain handed the Bruins a 4-1 lead to begin the fifth set. A Champlin swing gave UCLA a 6-4 advantage. Another Partain kill put UCLA up 7-4. Norris' swing out of the middle was followed up by a David/Genis block for a 10-7 edge. Knight's spike left the Bruins in charge at 12-9. A BYU attack error and a couple of Champlin swings later UCLA had the set and the match for a 15-9 victory.   
 
UCLA will enter next week's MPSF Tournament as the No. 1 seed and begin play on Thursday with a bye into the semifinal round. In Wednesday's quarterfinals, No. 2 seed USC will play No. 7 Concordia (2 p.m.); No. 3 Pepperdine will battle No. 6 BYU (5 p.m.) and No. 4 Grand Canyon will face No. 5 Stanford (8 p.m.) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The Bruins will face the lowest advancing seed in its semifinal match (4 p.m.) on Thursday. The second semifinal match will follow at 7 p.m. The MPSF Championship, which will decide the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Men's Collegiate Volleyball Championship which also is at UCLA this year, will be played at 6 p.m. For MPSF Tournament ticket information click on https://bit.ly/3xvHF5h
 
 
2022 MPSF Tournament Schedule
 (all matches at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom)
MPSF Quarterfinals: Wednesday, April 20
No. 1 Seed UCLA---Bye
No. 2 Seed USC vs. No. 7 Seed Concordia---2:00 pm
No. 3 Seed Pepperdine vs. No. 6 Seed BYU---5:00 pm
No. 4 Seed Grand Canyon vs. No. 5 Seed Stanford---8:00 pm
 
MPSF Semifinals: Thursday, April 21
Lowest Remaining Seed at 1 Seed UCLA---4:00 pm
Highest-Seeded Quarterfinal Winners---7:00 pm
 
MPSF Championship: Saturday, April 23
Semifinal Winners---6:00 pm