Coach John Speraw has spent the early season flexing his team’s depth.

From putting together two starting lineups separate from its usual in both games against UC San Diego, to subbing in freshman setter Andrew Rowan at the end of big sets, No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball boasts a plethora of talent on one roster. And Speraw is going to use it.

Beginning the season at UC Santa Barbara’s Asics Invitational, the Bruins strung together three wins in nine sets, playing two separate lineups against No. 15 UCSB and UCSD.

[Related: UCLA men’s volleyball sweeps UC San Diego rematch with new lineup]

“This team – at least in my experience of how it’s been so far this year – is characterized by great depth,” Speraw said. “Our gym is really talented. There’s a lot of players that can contribute and add value, whether they’re starting or coming off the bench.”

Friday’s game against Cal State Northridge debuted a different lineup than the home-opening CSUN matchup on Jan. 5 – and resulted in the same final score. Redshirt freshman outside hitter Cooper Robinson notched the second start of his career, while freshman outside hitter Zach Rama took the court for the first time in the last slate. Out of six faces on the court, over half were different between the two matches.

“You’re talking about two freshmen on the court, which is the kind of depth we have right now,” Speraw said. “We can do that and get a 3-0 win, so we’re feeling pretty good about it and we’ll learn from that experience.”

Through the entire season, the blue and gold has dropped one set, no matter who it put on the court.

Great depth isn’t new to Speraw or the Bruins. By the third match of the year in 2022, 12 players had seen action on the court.

[Related: UCLA men’s volleyball utilizes offensive depth throughout early season]

Nevertheless, by the first slate of away matches, 14 faces had seen the court in 2023. By the seventh, only five of 21 – all lowerclassmen – have no recorded minutes. While established names like junior outside hitter Ethan Champlin head the kills leaderboard, sophomore outside hitter/opposite Ido David has made an impact on the right side and comes in only 12 kills behind Champlin.

“We saw some other guys come in,” Champlin said. “They played really well, which showed just how robust of a team we are. Those are my biggest takeaways – just how deep our team is and our camaraderie.”

Over the past several years, a bright red question mark has punctuated the question of who would fill the Bruins’ setter position, but following a breakout year in 2022, junior setter/opposite Miles Partain assumed the role in the starting lineup. As such, Partain enters the season decorated with accolades. But accordingly, Rowan has gathered several of his own.

Rowan has 10 total service aces and a combined 98 assists in his three games starting this season – only nine assists behind Partain on the year. The setter proves the exception to Speraw’s competitive gym as one of two true freshmen to see the court this season, and the only true freshman to start.

“I appreciate coach trusting me to get out there and make a serve and try to make an impact on the game,” Rowan said.

In the Bruins’ latest matchup against the Matadors, Rowan led the blue and gold to a season-high hitting percentage, redshirt senior middle blocker J.R. Norris IV had his second straight 1.000 hitting game, and David paced the scoring for the second time in a row.

With the team facing George Mason on Tuesday, Speraw will have one more chance to test out his squad’s strength before back-to-back ranked matchups close out its East Coast trip.