Riding a nine-game win streak with seven left to play in the regular season, the Bruins look poised for postseason success.

Returning to action after a 12-day break, No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball (15-3, 5-0 MPSF) swept No. 9 Pepperdine (14-5, 6-1) on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins haven’t lost since Feb. 12 and haven’t dropped a set since March 6.

And though the Bruins would break out the brooms for a fourth-straight match, the first two frames witnessed sizable deficits.

After being down 13-14 in the first stanza, the Waves stymied the Bruins with a five-point run spearheaded by outside hitter Ryan Barnett, who finished the frame with six kills.

However, outside hitter Cooper Robinson – despite playing just two sets in the Bruins’ last affair – helmed a comeback. Six of the redshirt junior’s 16 kills came in the first set, helping UCLA capture the frame 25-22.

Four other Bruins joined the festivities, recording at least four kills and all hitting above .250.

With typical starter junior outside hitter Zach Rama benched for a second consecutive match, freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly took his place on the hardwood.

Against Vanguard, the Manhattan Beach, California, local recorded a career-high 11 kills March 13 before a six-kill performance March 15. And Thursday, Kelly’s eight kills were his second most on the season, while his .615 hitting percentage was a career-best in a single match.

Both squads boasted .500 hitting percentages in the second stanza, proving no less competitive than the first.

The Waves led by 7-3 to open the second frame, with a pair of scores from outside hitter Cole Hartke. Of his team-leading 13 kills Thursday, seven came in the second set. However, like the first frame, a 6-1 resurgence put the Bruins ahead 9-8 – before the MPSF rivals tied each other seven times, with the score eventually knotted at 15.

From that point, Andrew Rowan contributed 19 assists to orchestrate a UCLA advantage it wouldn’t relinquish. The junior setter delivered his sixth performance of 2025 with 40-plus assists, as the two-time AVCA First-Team All-American continues to pull the strings of the fourth-most efficient attack in the nation at a .368 hitting percentage.

In the match’s final frame, the Bruins – led by junior middle blocker Cam Thorne’s three blocks – contained the Waves to their lowest kill tally of the match.

The Grand Canyon transfer has yet to record fewer than two blocks in a contest this season and leads the MPSF in both blocks and hitting percentage.

Thorne and the Bruins will have the opportunity to extend their winning streak to double digits Saturday when they take on the Waves in a rematch at the Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, California.