Currently undefeated in conference play, the Bruins are set to ring down the curtain on the regular season this weekend.
In its fourth consecutive doubleheader, No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball (25-2, 10-0 MPSF) will head to Malibu for its first of two contests against No. 9 Pepperdine (16-11, 5-5) before returning home to cap off conference play.
The Bruins will be preparing for the upcoming MPSF tournament in their final games of the 2023 campaign. Heading into the postseason, UCLA has positioned itself first in the conference with victories in 30 out of 31 sets played against MPSF competition this season.
Having swept each MPSF team at least once, the Bruins have posted 18 total 3-0 decisions in 2023, the most by a UCLA team in over two decades. The blue and gold carries its 10-win mark to Malibu this weekend, looking to secure its first unbeaten MPSF season since 1995.
After emerging victorious in its first matchup against Stanford on April 6, senior outside hitter Alex Knight spoke of the team’s vigor heading into the postseason.
“We have stepped up our level of intensity,” Knight said. “We are focused and have demonstrated a really calm resolve throughout the ups and downs of the match.”
The Bruins have displayed their determined retaliation on the court, regrouping and recovering quickly from opponents’ runs or from slip-ups on their own end of the court.
“Teams have put together significant runs and put pressure on us,” coach John Speraw said. “(Our opponents) get all over the court, but we fight our way back to not let them change the tone of the match.”
Throughout the season’s matchups, the Bruins have seen critical kills and service aces toward the end of sets which have allowed them to escape tight, back-and-forth rallies and come away with wins.
And on top of impressive attacking, UCLA has shown out defensively, according to redshirt senior libero Troy Gooch.
“Coach has been preaching defense and how going down the stretch the rest of the season, we got to be resilient with our defense and dig more balls,” Gooch said. “That’s what has led to us winning more of these gritty matches, so that’s our mindset moving forward.”
First serve for Thursday’s matchup is at 6 p.m. in Firestone Fieldhouse and on Saturday at 7 p.m. back in Pauley Pavilion.
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