This post was updated April 13 at 9:29 p.m.

The energy of a crowd can make or break a match.

And a home audience seemed like just what the Bruins needed to rebuild their win streak.

Following its five-set victory the previous day, No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball (19-4,9-1 MPSF) defeated No. 7 BYU (17-9, 5-5) in four sets at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night, marking its third consecutive victory. The win was spearheaded by the Bruins’ .479 hitting percentage, their second-highest clip of the season.

“It’s definitely great to be here in Pauley, having the fan support behind our back,” said junior setter Andrew Rowan.

The Bruins built momentum after their Friday night win to post an even more dominant performance Saturday evening. Their dominance was solidified with a trio of double-digit kill performances by outside hitters redshirt junior Cooper Robinson, junior Zach Rama and freshman Sean Kelly. The three finished with 17, 12 and 10 kills on .393, .550 and .364 hitting percentages, respectively, marking Rama’s highest clip of the season.

The trio’s performance – combined with junior middle blocker Cameron Thorne’s nine kills on a .727 hitting percentage – was a testament to the Bruins’ new lineup of four hitters and three outsides.

But outside their improved offensive efficiency, the Bruins also stepped up their blocking game – registering 23 blocks compared to the Cougars’ nine. Thorne led UCLA with six while redshirt junior middle blocker Sean McQuiggan trailed behind with four.

“Just playing better defense,” Thorne said. “We didn’t block as well last night.”

Challenges were called from both sides of the net throughout the course of the match, but not all were successful. A challenge by UCLA in the fourth set still awarded the point to BYU, bringing the score to 20-14 in UCLA’s favor.

“You got to trust your team in those moments,” Hawks said. “And then there’s sometimes when you just have to challenge because you need to slow it down a little bit. And you may know that you’re going to lose those but I think it’s nice that you have that to break it (the set) up a little bit.”

UCLA’s defense limited the BYU offense to negative hitting percentages in the first and third sets with the Cougars’ posting -.036 and -.059 clips, respectively. The Bruins also limited their opponent to a .154 clip in the final set, culminating in a Cougar .134 hitting percentage for the match.

Not only did UCLA limit BYU’s offensive prowess but the squad also mitigated the efforts of one of their greatest threats: Keoni Thiim. The Cougars’ outside hitter entered the two-game series ranked No. 24 in the nation in kills per set but registered only six kills on a measly 0.091 hitting percentage Friday night, and logged just nine kills on a .080 hitting percentage Saturday evening.

Aside from a dominant victory, the match also signified a new milestone for Rowan.

He exceeded 3,000 career-set assists since coming to Westwood in 2023. The Trabuco Canyon, California, local notched 47 assists over the course of the match while also securing three of UCLA’s seven aces and a 1.000 hitting percentage.

“Andrew does such a great job setting the ball for us, setting the tone for the serve line,” Hawks said. “He’s playing good defense. He’s blocking the ball for us.”

The Cougars matched the Bruins in service aces, though both teams accumulated 11 and 29 service errors, respectively.

The 1995 and 1975 national championship teams both came to witness the Bruins’ victory over the Cougars, including former head coach and five-time Bruin NCAA champion John Speraw.

“I can go on and on with the incredible alums we have. They’re just really supportive of us and they want to see us do well,” Hawks said. “It’s really fun to play in front of them.”