The beauty of volleyball is that the same result can come from the same two teams in consecutive games, but a completely different story can be told each time.

And after No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (20-0, 7-0 MPSF) swept No. 14 Stanford (9-10, 6-2) Friday night, the Bruins followed it up Saturday with a second 3-0 victory at Maples Pavilion. But after being held to just a .164 hitting percentage in the first bout, the Cardinal produced a .292 clip in the second matchup.

[Related: UCLA men’s volleyball ends Stanford’s winning streak, 35 assists from Andrew Rowan]

However, both teams mustered an offensive resurgence. UCLA’s pin-hitters struggled to find consistency Friday – combining for just 19 kills – before increasing that count to 32 the following day.

Senior Zach Rama exceeded his Friday night kill tally of six in just the first set Saturday, pacing the match with 12 successful attacks.

The outside hitter’s connection with senior setter Andrew Rowan – his teammate of four years – was on full display, with Rowan facilitating early cross-court passes to the left side to find Rama at multiple tempos. Rama also said he feels most comfortable with high and fast passes to get up and over defenders.

“I know where he’s going to put the ball every time because he rarely misses,” Rama said. “I know that if I get my feet to the same spot every time, I can get up and over any block in the country.”

Rama added that Friday night’s affair saw more involvement from the middle blockers to open up shots on the margins later in the contest. Senior Cameron Thorne and junior Micah Wong Diallo led the team in kills with 10 and eight, respectively, marking the first time this season that two middles were the Bruins’ two leading attackers.

On Saturday, that script seemingly flipped with early involvement from Rama, sophomore outside hitter Sean Kelly and redshirt junior opposite David Decker.

Rowan diversified his scheme in the game’s first set, with each of his three primary attackers notching a kill in the first six serves. The Bruin offense also capitalized on using Thorne as a decoy to draw out defenders and force early and mistimed block attempts.

But Stanford setter Jacob Little-Phillips also got multiple teammates involved, often opting for his middles when sideline shots were not falling.

Middle blockers Kaumana Carreira and Luke McFall posted .500 and .800 hitting percentages, respectively. The reliability of both Cardinal middles became vital when Stanford’s two leading attacking targets both hit under .200.

Redshirt junior libero Christopher Connelly, who totaled seven digs across both games, was integral to a back row that routinely extended plays and made diving reaches for balls.

The Naples, Florida, local added that seeing his teammates work hard in practice and in games motivates him to put his body on the line.

“We all contribute to each other,” Connelly said. “Beginning of the season, we really wanted to be committed to passing as a group – as a team, as a unit – because it’s not just one of us. We did a really good job of doing that. We just benefit each other always.”

Both Connelly and coach John Hawks also said that the serve pressure from the Cardinal increased Saturday. Stanford’s offensive cleanliness also improved, providing better angles past UCLA defenders.

While a loud 3-0 Cardinal run secured a momentary 15-13 lead in the second frame, which may have been Stanford’s best chance at capturing a set in the weekend doubleheader, kills from Thorne and Decker, plus their combined block, quickly subdued the opposing momentum.

Nonetheless, much like Friday, the Bruins got routine touches at the net to allow for easier receptions, or even force shots high and cause wide out-of-bounds errors.

“We don’t have to tell these guys anything,” Hawks said. “These guys are mature enough. … They understand that last night was not where we are. We learned from it and came out tonight and played well.”