No. 1 seed UCLA men’s volleyball (20-6, 10-2 MPSF) fell in the MPSF semifinals to No. 4 seed and tournament host Pepperdine (20-9, 7-5) on April 25 at the Firestone Fieldhouse. With the five-set defeat, coach John Hawks’ squad failed to clinch the MPSF championship for the second consecutive year. The Daily Bruin Sports men’s volleyball beat delivers its takeaways from the conference tournament.

Connor Dullinger
Assistant Sports editor
Takeaway: Zach Rama and Sean Kelly

Many things were apparent from the Bruins’ semifinal defeat.

And while I could go on and on about UCLA men’s volleyball’s inconsistency, myriad of errors and lack of depth that all contributed to its MPSF tournament loss, something else sparked my interest.

Halfway through the season, I wanted to see more from freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly – highly touted as one of the best recruits coming out of high school – and a second-half rebound from junior outside hitter Zach Rama, who struggled to find the rhythm he finished his sophomore campaign with.

And Hawks gave me both.

Everyone focuses on the synergy between junior setter Andrew Rowan and redshirt junior outside hitter Cooper Robinson.

And while everyone is paying attention to on the two-time AVCA First Team All-American and 2025 MPSF Player of the Year, they lose out on two of the most underrated aspects of the Bruins – pieces that could fuel them to a NCAA title three-peat.

Kelly finished the semifinal with 12 kills on a .421 clip and has eclipsed double-digit kills in six of the last eight contests. And since moving to the opposite spot, Rama has garnered 10-plus kills in eight consecutive matches, most recently contributing 12 on a .304 hitting percentage in the MPSF tournament.

With Kelly seeing increased playing time and Rama flourishing at his new position, the two pin hitters could make waves in Columbus and solidify themselves as two of the attackers in the country next season.

Lex Wang
Daily Bruin senior staff
Takeaway: Expect the unexpected

Upsets can permeate any sport – especially in the postseason.

UCLA men’s volleyball learned that lesson the hard way.

Coming in as the No. 1 seed in the MPSF tournament, it looked as if UCLA should have breezed past its first opponent – No. 4 seed Pepperdine, to whom it dropped only one set in its season series – in the semifinals.

Instead, the Waves, spurred on by the familiarity of a Firestone Fieldhouse home crowd, won a fifth set thriller – squashing the Bruins’ hopes of an MPSF title, despite them holding the strongest regular season record among the nine schools in the conference.

But sometimes, the higher-ranked team doesn’t win, and that’s what makes sports worth watching.

No squad is infallible.

UCLA has proven that, falling multiple times this season – including to then-No. 13 Ohio State and then-No. 13 Grand Canyon on Jan. 18 and April 4, respectively.

Earning their way into the NCAA tournament with the second of two at-large bids given out by the selection committee, UCLA will arrive in Columbus, Ohio, as the underdogs to the two Big West powerhouses in Long Beach and Hawaiʻi.

However, if there’s anything that the Bruins should’ve learned from the MPSF tournament, it’s that they can count on the unexpected – and perhaps that it’s up to them to strongarm their way into an upset.

Grant Walters
Daily Bruin contributor
Takeaway: Does pressure make diamonds?

Commanding the final moments of a contest defines championship-caliber squads.

And UCLA has proven that they can embrace these clutch moments – with the squad winning all of their regular season five-set affairs.

However, this did not hold true in the Bruins’ sole MPSF tournament match April 25 at the Firestone Fieldhouse against No. 4 seed Pepperdine in the semifinals.

The Bruins won the third set and had an opportunity to finish the match in the fourth. The noise of the crowd diminished to mere murmurs, a far cry from the cheers and shouts that reverberated throughout the arena during the first stanza.

Pepperdine got out to an early lead in the fourth set and never gave it up. Despite UCLA’s late surge, a kill from MPSF Freshman of the Year and outstide hitter Cole Hartke forced a fifth set.

The atmosphere changed in an instant: the crowd rose to its feet and roared as the teams alternated benches, going into the ultimate set.

Throughout the season, this is where the Bruins would have relied on their closer – 2025 MPSF Player of the Year Cooper Robinson – to seal the win.

But the redshirt junior outside hitter only had two kills, including an attacking error, that gave Pepperdine a 15-14 advantage at the end of the fifth frame.

And no one picked up the slack.

The crowd noise – which approached a fever-pitch as the final set raged on – seemingly had an impact on the Bruins’ composure, as they racked up six service errors in the final set, gifting the Waves nearly half of their set points.

Although the NCAA tournament will be played at a neutral site at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, UCLA’s performance in the fifth against Pepperdine still poses questions about the team’s ability to prevail in the clutch, especially in championship affairs.

The fifth set is poised to dictate the Bruins’ future success, given the gauntlet of title-contenders that the squad must vanquish to capture their third-straight national championship.