For a team that has been the country’s unanimous best squad for the entire year, the Bruins were probably expected to walk away victorious.

But while it’s one thing to advance, it’s another to do it with perseverance.

No. 1 seed UCLA (27-1, 13-1 MPSF) swept No. 8 seed Concordia University Irvine (7-19, 4-10) in the first round of the MPSF tournament Wednesday evening at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, Utah. The Bruins will now move on to face the winner of No. 4 seed Stanford and No. 5 seed BYU in the semifinals Thursday night.

Entering the match, UCLA and Concordia’s last affair was Jan. 11, and the Bruins had not played in Provo since 2024. Coach John Hawks said that despite the lengthy time since facing the Golden Eagles and Utah’s high altitude, the Bruins did not have the jitters.

Concordia coach Jon Girten said service pressure would be key to forcing UCLA out of system before the game began. And while the Golden Eagles were consistent with their swinging strength, a tight passing game was integral to quelling what was almost an early Concordia comeback.

Libero Christopher Connelly was often the first touch on rallies and was key to keeping the ball in system. The redshirt junior totaled a game-high 10 digs, including five in the first set – his first double-digit dig performance since March 3 against then-No. 5 USC. Connelly’s block coverage consistently kept Concordia attacks from landing and helped to quell a six-point first set run that evened the match at 19.

“Volleyball is a game of momentum, and they (Concordia) definitely had a lot of momentum and a lot of energy, so credit to them,” Connelly said. “But that just means that we had to work harder. We talked about it, and we said, ‘We’re in a little bit of a hole and a little bit of a funk right now.’ We just had to get out of it.”

Despite Concordia’s leading scorer, outside hitter Christian Galoppo, landing on middle blocker Nathan Habermas’ foot and tweaking his ankle early, and a second-set mishap that hampered his other foot, Galoppo played through the entire game. But the junior’s jumping confidence was seemingly hindered, as Galoppo finished the match with just six kills on 13 swings, including three errors.

In his place, outside hitter Ties Cornelissen and opposite Logan Whitaker took on a majority of the offensive reps, notching 11 kills apiece. The former scored eight of his 23 punches in just the first set – during what would be the most competitive set – with the Golden Eagles falling by just two points following redshirt junior opposite David Decker’s fourth kill on just as many attempts.

Concordia’s lead pin-hitting tandem capitalized early when Connelly rotated out of the back row, showing off an adept ability to find uncovered spots on the floor. As a unit, the Golden Eagles hit a .464 clip in the first set, surpassing the Bruins’ .452 hitting percentage.

“There were two things in that (first) set,” Hawks said. “No. 5 (Whitaker) went on that service run, and we just didn’t kill the ball. … There weren’t a whole lot of adjustments we had to make, other than just some blocking things on where we’re standing.”

But that Concordia hot streak would not last long, as the second frame saw the Golden Eagles hitting negatively, largely because of a tight Bruin defense spearheaded by Micah Wong Diallo’s game-high six blocks – his most since March 6 against the Trojans. The junior middle blocker, while not heavily involved offensively with just four targets, was seemingly perfect on every rotation, reaching both sides of the pin with his 6-foot-9 frame and manning the net with multiple teammates at a time.

UCLA’s first tally of the second set came off a three-way block between Diallo, senior setter Andrew Rowan and senior outside hitter Zach Rama – the latter two combining for another nine blocks themselves. And it was that cohesive timing that propelled a Westwood defense to force a total of 13 attacking errors on the night.

“We call out what we see at the beginning of a play – who the guys are, who they like to set in that specific row and trusting our reads,” Diallo said.

The Bruins’ ability to stay in-system paid dividends, as Rowan, crowned MPSF Player of the Year on Tuesday, was able to coordinate an attack that boasted a .460 hitting percentage, while also involving several teammates across the board. Against the Golden Eagles, three Bruins saw double-digit attempts, all of whom hit at least .400.

Senior middle blocker Cameron Thorne paced the Bruins in efficiency, sporting seven kills on just one more attempt. The All-MPSF First Team selection opened the game early with two of UCLA’s first four points off quick first-tempo attacks, regularly using his 45-plus-inch vertical to make last-second decisions on where to knock the ball and at what velocity.

“If I had to give ourselves a grade, I would give us a B+,” Hawks said. “They had No. 1 (Galoppo) go on a little run in the third set and No. 5 (Whitaker) in the first set. But other than that – they scored a couple points here and there, and they did put some pressure on us – … for the most part, we did okay.”

And despite the Golden Eagles achieving their first multipoint lead early in the final stanza, the Bruins were able to continue their cleanliness into the game’s final stretch – in a match that saw just four UCLA attacking errors – to fend off any chances of the game extending.

As Decker rose on the right side on match point, Concordia committed three defenders to the left-handed pin-hitter, giving the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, local the room to make a soft cross-court swing that was short of the nearest Golden Eagle defender – what would be his fourth kill of the set and ninth of the game.