This post was updated March 30 at 9:40 p.m.

Height may not be everything in volleyball – but it’s one of the most defining factors.

And this was a lesson the Bruins were forced to learn when it almost cost them.

Dropping its first set since March 6, No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball (16-3, 6-0 MPSF) defeated No. 9 Pepperdine (14-6, 6-2) on Saturday at the Firestone Fieldhouse in a 3-1 match that saw the Bruins extend their win streak to double digits. The Bruins maintained their top spot in the MPSF with just six matches to play in the regular season.

When the ball hit a low-hanging light fixture in the second set, the match paused for roughly seven minutes as coaches and staff debated the rules. The ordeal ended with a do-over that resulted in a point and an 11-10 lead for the Bruins.

And when redshirt junior outside hitter Cooper Robinson kept the ball in play using only his right foot in the third stanza, freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly set up Robinson, who landed the kill and tilted the score in the Bruins’ favor at 22-21.

And that would not be the last time Kelly’s name was called Saturday. The match launched the freshman to both season and career highs in five categories, including four blocks alongside 12 kills on a .545 hitting percentage.

Junior middle blocker Cameron Thorne also secured a season-high three aces, recording 10 kills on a .615 clip. Robinson and junior outside hitter Zach Rama – the latter returning to action after sitting out two consecutive matches – also secured double-digit kills, with 17 and 14, respectively.

After racing through the first two sets – both of which ended 25-22 in UCLA’s advantage – the Bruins teetered on the edge of what could’ve been their fifth consecutive sweep.

Though Thorne secured the second ace of the match in the third frame to give UCLA a somewhat comfortable 19-16 lead, Pepperdine clinched four of the next five points to tie the score at 20 apiece. The Waves’ offensive tide was strong enough to sink UCLA 27-25 and force a fourth set.

But then it was all blue and gold. Shaking off their third-set stumble, the Bruins gained an early 4-1 lead that kept the Waves at arm’s length, never letting the gap shrink to fewer than two points.

Pepperdine outside hitter Ryan Barnett committed a service error with the game almost out of reach already, closing things out at 25-16 to give the Bruins the victory.