This post was updated Jan. 14 at 8:54 p.m.
Maintaining dominance after a seven-month break can be difficult, even for back-to-back national champions.
But that’s why a top-ranked designation is reserved only for the elite.
In sweeping fashion, No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (1-0) commenced its 2025 season with a 3-0 win against Saint Francis (0-2) on Friday afternoon at the Gold Mine in Long Beach, California.
The Bruins’ offense averaged a .460 hitting percentage across all three sets. Their winning prowess was especially prominent in the first stanza, where they recorded a .650 clip.
Orchestrating the entire UCLA attack was junior setter Andrew Rowan, who finished the game with 19 assists, three digs and two kills. Rowan is among first-year coach John Hawks’ most reliable returning players. The two-time AVCA All-America First Team member led the Bruins to a .372 hitting percentage last season after averaging the 10th-most assists per set in the nation.
Despite the departures of key contributors to UCLA’s 2024 national championship run, such as former Bruins Merrick McHenry and Ethan Champlin, the Bruins’ attack appeared to pick up where it left off entering the new year.
“We got some great athletes,” Hawks said. “We were able to win handily despite missing serves.”
UCLA’s serving game struggled throughout the affair, accumulating 18 service errors. The Bruins’ serving woes carried over from last season, where they faltered 592 items from the end line.
Junior outside hitter Zach Rama and senior outside hitter/opposite Ido David took command at the net for UCLA. Rama – who posted 157 kills last season in just 68 sets – notched five kills on just 13 attempts, while David added six kills and five digs on a .500 clip.
UCLA took control of the match from the get-go, relying on its offensive arsenal to sweep Saint Francis. Four Bruins recorded at least five kills, with outside hitter Cooper Robinson leading the way with eight. The redshirt junior added to that figure with three assists, three digs and a service ace on a .500 hitting percentage during Friday’s contest.
Hawks said Robinson and sophomore middle blocker Spencer Graves, both Pacific Palisades locals, have been impacted by the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles County yet still decided to play in the Bruins’ inaugural game of the 2025 season.
“The strength that it took him and Spencer Graves was special,” Hawks said.
After the conclusion of the first set, UCLA seemed to lean on Rowan to facilitate its offensive attack. The 2023 AVCA Newcomer of the Year was instrumental in maintaining the Bruins’ poise – he repeatedly steadied the Bruins’ offensive attack with his pinpoint setting – as the team trudged through the final two frames, dipping to a .286 hitting percentage in the second set.
“It comes down to our setting,” Hawks said. “Our passing was there in spurts.”
However, with the Bruins’ three attacking errors, their defense was able to create commotion that impacted the Red Flash’s offense. Saint Francis recorded 16 attacking errors, while UCLA restricted it to a .194 hitting clip for the game.
The Bruins’ victory represented Hawks’ first win as head coach of the Bruins.
But the former Loyola Chicago head coach has his eyes set on bringing a third-straight national title back to Westwood.
“I never liked this stuff being about me,” Hawks said. “It’s about all of us.”
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