Defying the racket of the Trojans’ roaring crowd, the blue and gold collected the series crown for the second straight year.

Emerging victorious in six straight sets, No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball (25-2, 10-0 MPSF) swept both contests in its doubleheader against No. 12 USC (8-15, 1-9). Despite the convincing win in Saturday night’s matchup, the Bruins’ crosstown rivals didn’t give way without a fight.

“As a lifelong Bruin, it never gets old to beat ‘SC, it’s always good to get some wins over the Trojans,” said coach John Speraw. “They’re a good volleyball team that played some of their better volleyball this season because the rivalry brings out the best in both teams.”

With nine lead changes and 19 ties throughout the matchup, the cardinal and gold forced the Bruins to burn the candle at both ends.

“’SC came out a lot better than we had expected,” said junior outside hitter Ethan Champlin. “They put on a fight on both ends of the floor.”

In the early stages of the match, each Bruin kill was quickly canceled by a Trojan attack on their end of the floor. A hat trick of service aces by middle blocker Kyle Paulson and a kill by outside hitter Kevin Kobrine led the Trojans to a 10-6 advantage, their largest margin of the night thus far.

Neither team’s lead exceeded a margin of one until Champlin’s kill propelled the Bruins to a 5-1 run to capture the first set just behind a couple of crucial kills by sophomore outside hitter/opposite Ido David. David concluded with 17, more than a third of the team’s kill total.

“In the first set, the Trojans put together two really significant serving runs,” Speraw said. “For us to come back and win that first set was one of my favorite sets of the season. Their one server hit three aces in a row and they were all over the court. We had to really fight our way back, and to win that set 25-20 was a very, very poised, tactical and calm victory.”

A similar pattern of events transpired as the second frame took off.

Nevertheless, spurred on by four crucial kills from senior outside hitter Alex Knight, the blue and gold took the set with an eight-point advantage. Knight, who clinched the match for the Bruins, had 11 kills on the night, hitting at a .476 clip.

“He’s had a phenomenal weekend,” Speraw said. “He has been playing great offensive volleyball and passing the ball so well. When he’s going with that clip we are a really good volleyball team. He’s playing his best volleyball of the season right now.”

Alongside a strong offensive attack, the Bruins held up defensively, with freshman setter Andrew Rowan capturing a game-high nine digs in his second-best effort of the season.

“It warms my heart to see Andrew contribute so well defensively,” Speraw said. “It’s been an area of focus for him, and if he is digging like that we are in a good spot.”

Having out-dug their opponents, the Bruins demonstrated how well they’re picking up on a part of the game that hasn’t been as solid as their offense throughout the season.

Alongside its 34 digs of the night, UCLA found itself with eight blocks.

“Our defense was great tonight. Not just the fact that we were touching the ball but that we were getting quality touches, allowing our offense to really run efficiently in transition,” Knight said. “We were giving our setters an opportunity to put up nice hittable balls in transition, so it was a great defensive night.”

Momentum from the end of the second frame carried forward to the third, as the Bruins limited their crosstown rivals to just four points within the first 10. An early 7-1 run catapulted by a David kill gave the squad a comfortable cushion throughout what would become the final frame.

Efforts to mitigate the UCLA lead proved unsuccessful for USC, as each point was met with another pounce from the Bruins. The lead didn’t decrease from four throughout the rest of the third set.

“The fans were on their feet cheering and shouting more than in the first two sets,” Champlin said. “It’s a best of five, but we wanted to finish it off as soon as possible and take the win, which we were able to do.”

The Trojans went into the third frame with drastic changes to their lineup, attempting to induce a change in the trajectory of the game, according to Speraw.

“They went with a pretty significant lineup change,” Speraw said. “Sometimes when a team changes things around – when they make a couple plays, and start thinking they are doing things differently – it can change the emotional tone of the night, but we never let that happen.”

With the win, the Bruins remain undefeated in conference play as they look to their last doubleheader before the MPSF tournament.