It’s not about how you start. It’s about how you finish.
No. 3 UCLA men’s volleyball (6-1) defeated No. 13 Ohio State (3-5) in four sets at the Big Ten Challenge in Columbus, Ohio, marking its fourth-straight victory. Just two weeks earlier on Jan. 18, the Buckeyes handed the Bruins their first loss of the season at the First Point Collegiate Challenge.
The Bruins relied on their multifaceted attack to overcome the hard-hitting Buckeyes, finishing the affair with a .327 hitting percentage and 48 kills.
UCLA also dominated from the service line, sporting 12 aces while limiting its service errors to 19. This ace-to-error margin was vastly different from its first battle with Ohio State, where UCLA had four aces compared to 27 service errors and ultimately lost the affair in four sets.
The squad struggled in the opening frame, committing eight service errors alongside six attacking errors. The Bruins’ attack had one of their worst stanzas of the season, as a 0.080 hitting percentage defined their opening frame.
However, after tying the match in the second set, the Bruins faltered at the start of the third set, digging a 6-13 hole as the Buckeyes’ attack spurred a four-point run off three kills.
Coach John Hawks used his final timeout of the set to stall the Buckeye run – what turned out to be the turning point of the game. Rather than allowing the match to slip away from them – as was the case in their prior matchup – the Bruins took control.
“Our guys are professional,” Hawks said. “They go in, they train and they work hard, so I give all the credit to them.”
Redshirt sophomore opposite hitter David Decker rose to the occasion, making his first start of his career to replace the injured senior outside hitter/opposite Ido David. The Winston-Salem, North Carolina, local finished the frame with six kills and ended the game with 11 on a .238 hitting percentage.
Along with Decker, redshirt junior outside hitter Cooper Robinson helped spearhead the Bruins’ rejuvenated attack in the third set with six kills and three aces, posting five of the final eight points to close out the set. The Pacific Palisades, California, local ended the match with a team-leading 17 kills while maintaining a hitting percentage of .452.
“I know that we’re going to be in every single match,” Hawks said. “I’m super proud of the guys for their resilience and character that they show in tough moments.”
UCLA finished the fourth set with 14 kills, but this time it was junior outside hitter Zach Rama paving the way with a team-leading five kills.
After the Buckeyes took the lead late in the fourth stanza, Robinson, Decker and Rama cemented the win for the Bruins, each contributing at least one kill to cap off the Bruins’ final six points.
UCLA ousted Ohio State in the final set 26-24 for a 3-1 victory, giving the Bruins a clean sweep of the Big Ten Challenge.
“This is a really big turning point for the team,” Hawks said. “Our growth over the last week has been tremendous.”
With the MPSF season on the horizon, the Bruins carry their winning streak into conference play. However, they will face a familiar foe first.
UCLA will battle No. 1 Long Beach State in back-to-back games Feb. 7 and Feb. 12, respectively. The clash will be the first time UCLA has faced Long Beach State since it beat them in four sets to claim the 2024 national championship.
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