Facing an unknown opponent is always a wild card.

There’s no way to know if a team has the chops to beat them until both squads are on the hardwood.

But sometimes, that challenge is exactly what a team needs to rise to the occasion.

Spearheaded by double-digit kills from three players, No. 3 seed UCLA’s men’s volleyball (20-6, 10-2 MPSF) defeated No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey (17-8, 12-2 Conference Carolinas) on Thursday in sweeping fashion at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, at the NCAA tournament quarterfinals. The match marked the first time that the Bruins and Crusaders had faced off and the first stage of the Bruins’ pursuit of a third straight national championship.

“We did a great job staying together as a team. We’ve been working on that a lot, and everyone feels confident with each other,” said freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly. “Everyone came in and … did their job.”

In the 90-minute duel, the Bruins restricted the Crusaders – who arrived at Columbus having not dropped a set since April 12 and a match since March 15 – to a .184 hitting percentage. The back-to-back Conference Carolinas tournament champions found themselves overpowered by the Bruin defense, with the ball relentlessly and consistently stuffed down on their side of the court.

At 2.32 blocks per set this season – enough for 17th in the nation but 11 spots below Belmont Abbey – coach John Hawks’ squad imposed its defensive capabilities, garnering 18 more blocks than Belmont Abbey’s five.

While libero tandem redshirt junior Matthew Aziz and sophomore outside hitter Luca Curci fall outside of the top 50 in the country in digs per set, the duo combined for almost a quarter of UCLA’s digs.

Despite Belmont Abbey touting one of the country’s most formidable offensive lineups, ranking 15th in kills per set, UCLA’s defensive prowess shone on both ends, finishing the morning with its 23 blocks and 18 digs spread across the team.

“We were digging some balls in situations when we were just executing our game plan,” Hawks said. “I thought we blocked exceptionally well in moments, so proud of the guys. I know we got a lot more in the tank.”

Junior setter Andrew Rowan distributed the ball to a flurry of hands across the court for 37 assists, leading to a team .455 hitting percentage and enabling a host of Bruins to contribute to the offense.

Five Bruins – including outside hitter duo All-MPSF honorable mention Sean Kelly and MPSF Player of the Year Cooper Robinson – earned clips above .300, a testament to UCLA’s third-ranked hitting percentage. The freshman and redshirt junior combined to spearhead the squad’s charge with 22 kills on 39 total attacks, on a .455 and .529 clip, respectively.

Second Team All-American selection junior outside hitter Zach Rama paced the Bruins with a team-high 13 kills on a .476 clip, additionally tallying three aces from behind the service line. 

In line with Hawks’ serving philosophy that encourages high-risk, high-reward attempts, the Bruins saw five aces and just 14 errors Thursday.

“We’ve got physical guys,” Robinson said. “Rama, myself and Kelly are all big hitters. We have a lot of versatility, like Sean Kelly can run a D ball, or I can run an A ball, or Rama can run a bic – it doesn’t matter. We have the skill and the size in that position, and we like to run it, and it is very effective.”

Prior to Thursday, UCLA rode a two-match losing streak, getting swept by crosstown rival USC in its final regular season contest and falling in five sets in the MPSF tournament semifinals to conference champion Pepperdine.

However, UCLA’s quick-paced three-set defeat of Belmont Abbey maintained the efficiency it cultivated against top teams in the nation earlier in the season.

Although the Bruins’ pace slowed down at the beginning of the third frame, they went on several runs throughout the match that eventually spurred a 25-18, 25-21, 25-19 finish.

With four 2025 AVCA All-Americans freshly anointed this week in Rama, Rowan, Robinson and junior middle blocker Cameron Thorne, UCLA looks to sustain the energy in the semifinals against the winner between No. 2 seed Hawai’i and No. 7 seed Penn State on Saturday.

“We’re keying in on the typical things that we do from game planning,” Hawks said. “We’ve got tomorrow to work on ourselves a little bit too. … It’s dialing in on our offense, dialing in on our defense and how we can improve points here – but also looking at Hawaii or Penn State and seeing how we can attack them and defend them.”