Men’s volleyball wins first-ever matchups against Morehouse, Fort Valley State

The Bruins played their inaugural matches in the state of Georgia.

Taking on Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference foes for the first time in program history, No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (15-3, 5-1 MPSF) defeated Morehouse (0-13, 0-6, SIAC) on Friday afternoon at the Forbes Arena in Atlanta before sweeping Fort Valley State (4-11, 3-1 SIAC) at the HPE Arena in Fort Valley on Saturday.

On Friday, the Bruins limited the Maroon Tigers to just eight points in the first set and five scores in the third frame – both season lows for a Bruin opponent.

The blue and gold opened the first frame with back-to-back blocks, with the second assisted by the match’s leading attackers, junior outside hitter/opposite Cole Ketrzynski and redshirt senior middle blocker J.R. Norris IV.

Both players finished with zero errors, as Ketrzynski led the Bruins with 12 kills, while Norris chipped in with 10 kills as well as four aces to set career highs.

Redshirt junior middle blocker Daniel Matheney made his season debut at the beginning of the second set. Following the junior’s substitution into the game, the Bruins maintained the lead throughout the set and finished the third frame with zero attack errors to seal the victory with set scores of 25-8, 25-9, 25-5.

Matheney, who ended the contest with four kills – tied for the fourth most on the team – said the matches in Georgia held significant value as a Black men’s volleyball student-athlete.

“It was really eye-opening to see a full team of volleyball players also be Black because that does not happen anywhere where I’m from,” Matheney said. “That is something that needs to be looked at, in the form of diversity and inclusion within volleyball teams around the nation.”

The Bruins’ contest against the Wildcats also resulted in a clean sweep.

Junior outside hitter Alex Knight led the Bruins with seven kills, followed by five kills from redshirt sophomore opposite Kyle Vom Steeg. Both Matheney and Norris racked up four kills Saturday.

UCLA never trailed, winning 25-8, 25-10, 25-11 to complete the sweep.

Coach John Speraw said the goal of the matches was not to win but rather to show support and solidarity in the future efforts of men’s volleyball diversity and inclusion by playing historically Black colleges and universities.

“Morehouse is a first-year program and so we came out here as a new experience for student-athletes to support the HBCU programs that are just getting going,” Speraw said. “We wanted to support the opportunity … to give more minority representation in our sport and to provide more educational opportunities for boys of color in this country.”

Beyond the court, Norris said the Bruins also worked in clinics with children in the area throughout the week to grow the sport of volleyball.

“Working the camps and the clinics … gave us the opportunity to go into impoverished communities and expose them to different things other than basketball and football because that is what is pushed,” Norris said. “As a men’s volleyball player, especially as an African American volleyball player, I love to see it.”