MVB Begins NCAA Play on Tuesday
Top-Seeded Bruins Battle Fort Valley St. in NCAA Quarterfinal Match — Top-seeded UCLA (23-5), which has won 12 of its last 13 matches and is coming off of a third straight Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) regular season title, will play No. 8 seed and Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champ Fort Valley State (13-7) on Tuesday morning at 11 a.m. in Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid in a NCAA Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship quarterfinal match. The Bruins swept Fort Valley State in the 2024 season-opener in January. The winner of Tuesday's quarterfinal match will advance to play the winner of quarterfinal number two between No. 4 seed UC Irvine (at-large team from Big West Conference) and No. 5 seed Penn State (Eastern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference champ).
Apr. 30 - NCAA MVB Quarterfinals
No. 1 seed UCLA vs. No. 8 seed Fort Valley State - 11 a.m.
Live Video: https://www.ncaa.com/game/6290840
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=526093
The Bruins have won at least two sets in all but one match this season, a 1-3 loss at top-ranked Long Beach State. With the home win over top-ranked Long Beach earlier this season, UCLA has defeated the AVCA's No. 1-ranked team in each of the last four seasons -- 2024: Feb. 10 Long Beach (3-1 at home); 2023: March 6 Hawai'i (3-1) in Fairfax, Va.; 2022: Feb. 19 vs. Long Beach (3-2) at home; 2021: Feb. 4 at BYU (3-1).
UCLA and Rankings — UCLA was listed at No. 2 in last week's AVCA coaches poll. After starting out 2024 as the top-ranked team in the AVCA pre-season poll and first two listings of the regular season, the Bruins have now been ranked as high as No. 2 in the poll at some point in seven of the last eight seasons (not in 2021) ... The Bruins have risen as high as No. 1 in the AVCA poll in five seasons under John Speraw -- 2024,2023, 2022, 2016, 2014 ... UCLA has ended a season ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll a record 10 times (1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995,1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2023) over the years.
Ranking Notes — UCLA begins the Championship week ranked among the nation's top 10 as a team in hitting % (1st-.370), aces/set (3rd-1.97), blocks/s (4th-2.52), set assists (5th-12.00), and kills/s (6th-12.74) ... So far in 2024, UCLA has 13 double-digit total block efforts (Lewis, Loyola,Ohio St., UCSB, UCI, Long Beach 2x, Pepp, BYU, USC, GCU, at USC, GCU in MPSF), five double-digit ace performances (Lewis-14, UCI-10, Pepperdine-10, Stanford-11, GCU-10) and has hit at least .400 in 13 matches (Ft. Valley St., Morehouse, UCSD, UCI, Pepp, BYU, at USC, Ohio St.-h, Stanford, GCU, at CUI, CUI-h, at USC-MPSFs) ... Setter Andrew Rowan rates among the nation's top 10 in set assists -- 9th (10.15) ... Merrick McHenry ranks 15th in blocking (0.97) ... After recording a block solo in this year's home match against Long Beach, McHenry moved past Garrett Muagututia (2007-10, 44), and has risen to the top of the school list for career block solos (currently has 48) ...His current .514 career attack percentage would be a school record and make him the first Bruin in the rally scoring era (2001-present) to finish above .500 ... the Bruins have climbed into the top spot nationally in hitting percentage (.370 to begin the NCAA's) and are looking to lead the nation in the category for a third straight season (2023 hit .382; 2022 hit .374).
UCLA'S NCAA Tournament History — This marks the 30th appearance by the Bruins in the NCAA MVB Championship event (57-10 overall record) ... UCLA last won the NCAA title in 2023 ... This is the fifth NCAA Tournament appearance for the Bruins under head coach John Speraw --- 2023 at George Mason: d. Long Beach (3-0) in semis and Hawai'i (3-1) in title match; 2022 at UCLA: UCLA d. Pepperdine (3-1) in an Opening Match and lost to Long Beach (2-3) in the semis; 2018 at UCLA: UCLA d. Harvard (3-1) in an Opening Match; d. BYU (3-1) in semis; lost to Long Beach (2-3) in championship; 2016 at Penn St.: UCLA lost to Ohio State (2-3) in semis. Speraw has compiled an 11-4 all-time record in NCAA MVB Tournament play (2006-lost in semis to Penn St. while at UC Irvine; 2007-won title over Purdue Fort Wayne while at UCI; 2009-won title over USC while at UCI; 2012-won title over USC while at UCI; 2016-lost in semis to Ohio St. while at UCLA; 2018-lost to Long Beach in title match while at UCLA; 2022-lost in semis to Long Beach while at UCLA; 2023-beat Long Beach in semis and Hawai'i in the championship match while at UCLA ... UCLA has advanced to the NCAA MVB Championship match 27 times (20-7 record). The Bruins have won the NCAA MVB title in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982,1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2023 ... UCLA lost in the title match in 1978, 1980, 1994, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2018.
Player Notes — Merrick McHenry, who leads the MPSF in attack % (.570), has hit at least .400 in 24 of the last 25 matches (20 of 25 have been at least .500) ... Ethan Champlin owns the team lead with 14 double-digit kill matches this season and also tops the team in digs (146) ... Cooper Robinson has double-digit points in 12 of the last 16 matches he's played in and at least one ace in seven of the last eight matches ... Andrew Rowan has multiple aces in 12 matches and the team has hit at least .350 in 16 matches he has started this season ... Grant Sloane has at least one ace in 10 of the last 11 matches he has played in ... Sean McQuiggan has started at middle blocker in 13 of the last 15 matches.
AVCA All-America Selections — Outside hitter Ethan Champlin, middle blocker Merrick McHenry and setter Andrew Rowan were chosen to the AVCA Men's Div. I-II first-team. Opposite Grant Sloane and outside hitter Cooper Robinson were awarded honorable mention. This is the third straight season in which Champlin and McHenry have earned first-team accolades. It marks the second straight season for Rowan.