The scoreboard at Pauley read 48-46.

A typical halftime score for coach Mick Cronin’s team, or a glance at the video monitor during a coach Cori Close timeout.

Instead, it was coach John Hawks’ team, and it was history.

Anchored by a 94-point second set – the longest in NCAA history – No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (8-0, 2-0 MPSF) took down No. 13 Ohio State (4-2) on Thursday night at home in a match that featured 42 tie points, 32 coming in the second set alone.

“No way we’re going to get this far into the game and not put all our hearts into it,” said redshirt junior libero Christopher Connelly. “We just kept saying, ‘This one right here. This point right here.’”

In a frame that featured 24 set point opportunities – 17 of which were controlled by UCLA – both sides were heavily plagued by service errors, with 19 coming just in the second stanza.

But despite that, the Bruins closed the set the same way it stretched on: at the service line.

The marathon ended with an ace from senior setter Andrew Rowan, square in the face of opposite Shane Wetzel, to conclude the 23 set point opportunities that had preceded.

“It didn’t really feel good coming off my hand, and then having to hit him in the face, it’s a funny ending,” Rowan said. “I’ve known Wetzel for a while, so it’s pretty poetic. It was awesome, just the best feeling.”

Wetzel finished with a match-high 19 kills on 38 swings and was Ohio State’s primary outlet throughout the night. The volume from the Buckeyes’ right side consistently drew attention from UCLA’s block, forcing adjustments on both sides of the net.

But that pressure reshaped UCLA’s offense.

With Ohio State committing bodies to the pin, Rowan spread the ball across the floor, finishing with 52 assists and involving five attackers in consistent rotations, hitting .458 as a team.

Connelly, who led UCLA with 11 digs for his first career double-digit match, said the Bruins leaned on execution rather than urgency as the set extended.

“They put up such a good block,” Connelly said. “They put serving pressure on us that we didn’t expect, but I’m really proud of how we handled it, and I’m proud of how we came through.”

The Bruins’ presence at the net withstood the length of the set, finishing with eight blocks across the match, and depth became increasingly important as the set wore on.

Redshirt junior middle blocker Christopher Hersh returned to the lineup after missing last week’s games because of illness, finishing with three blocks and a pair of kills as rotations tightened and substitutions shortened late in the frame.

“That’s what his job is, to come in and perform well,” Hawks said. “He’s an upperclassman. He’s prepared to do that, and he’s earned that job.”

Hersh’s three blocks came as rallies continued to extend, with the Buckeyes totaling 36 digs to the Bruins’ 34 on the night.

After a series of missed serves and erroneous receptions threatened the Bruins’ second set victory, Hawks pointed to internal communication as the throughline, proving to be successful. Following the hard-fought second set, the Bruins went on to dominate more offensively in the third set, closing out over Ohio State 25-20 to improve to their seventh sweep in eight matches.

“In those moments, it’s not what I tell them, it’s what they’re telling each other,” Hawks said. “In those moments, it’s like, ‘Hey, trust our guys, stay together and execute on certain systems.’”