As UCLA Athletics takes a break for the summer, professional sports are still in full swing, with many Bruins representing. Each week during the summer, Daily Bruin Sports will look at the standout performances of UCLA alumni, current athletes and future stars as we count down the days until fall.
Men’s Volleyball: Ethan Champlin, Karch Kiraly, Merrick McHenry, Micah Ma’a, Andrew Rowan, Cooper Robinson
The international stage may be the next logical step for members of UCLA’s winning sports program to make names for themselves.
And five Bruins – both past and present – did just that with Team USA this past month in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League. After over two weeks off, Team USA returned to action in Chiba, Japan, against Turkey to complete its remaining four preliminary matches.
Conducting the squad was former UCLA men’s volleyball coach Karch Kiraly.
Kiraly won three national championships competing for the Bruins and earned two Olympic gold medals in 1984 and 1988. He went on to coach the U.S. women’s national team from 2012 to 2024 before leading the men’s squad since last year.
Recent graduate and outside hitter Cooper Robinson was arguably the squad’s strongest player, leading the U.S. in total scoring with a .456 clip, notching his tournament-high 18 kills against Argentina on July 18.
The Pacific Palisades, California, local’s international inexperience may have shown during his global debut, however, as he failed to hit double-digit kills in half of his matches. Robinson sported only a pair of kills against Germany on July 19.
Hitting alongside Robinson was former outside hitter Ethan Champlin.
The duo won a pair of national championships in 2023 and 2024, during which Champlin was a First Team All-American twice.
Although the Oceanside, California, local saw minimal playing time to start the tournament – only recording one double-digit kill performance in the first eight games – Champlin registered double-digit kills in two of his three games to close out the tournament. Across his final three contests, Champlin mustered .450-plus clips each time.
Team USA was defensively anchored by the same man who led the back-to-back national champions: Merrick McHenry.
Despite leading the squad in total blocks, McHenry ranked just 16th in the tournament in that metric – a potential reflection of talent deficits for Team USA as overall.
After recording a personal-best seven blocks against Iran on June 12, the Bedford, Texas, local failed to surpass two blocks in any game after.
Of the five Bruins competing, only former setter Micah Ma’a competed for the bronze-medal-placing 2024 Olympic team.
After sitting out for the first four games of the tournament, Ma’a served as team captain for the remainder of preliminary action. He had his best game against Germany on July 19, delivering 36 assists.
Setter Andrew Rowan was the only current Bruin involved in the competition.
Despite initially watching from the sidelines as a reserve, the rising senior was called up to the active roster upon Team USA’s return to competition. However, he saw little playing time in that duration.
Team USA finished its last four games with an evenly-split record and an 11th-place finish, three spots short of clinching a quarterfinal berth. Although the U.S. was technically in a six-way tie for seventh place, it lost on a tie-breaker based on the number of individual sets won.
Men’s Volleyball: Cam Thorne
The phrases “6-foot-4” and “best middle blocker” don’t tend to appear in the same breath.
But Cam Thorne inhales that air every day.
The rising senior was voted as the Best Middle Blocker in the NORCECA Men’s U23 Pan-American Cup, at which time Thorne represented UCLA men’s volleyball and Team USA in Guatemala City from July 29 to Aug. 3.
Team USA began group play with a four-set loss to the Dominican Republic on July 29 despite an opening stanza victory. After going to sudden death in the following two frames, a nine-point advantage – sparked by opposite Adrián Figueroa Lantigua’s 25 points – in the closing set sealed the Dominican Republic’s win.
Despite the loss, Thorne posted 10 kills of his own alongside five blocks – outnumbering the entire opposing squad.
The Hollywood, Florida, local continued his strong play across the remaining pair of preliminary games, helping the squad beat Mexico in four sets on July 30 and then sweep Belize the following day.
The match against Mexico had three of its four sets decided by only two points, as just two kills and two blocks separated the two squads. Thorne accounted for one of those blocks and was one of three Americans with double-digit kills.
The 2025 AVCA First-Team All-American finished group play with a trio of blocks, helping to fortify a Team USA defense that held Belize to just 16 and 13 points in the second and third sets, respectively.
After finishing with a 2-1 record, the squad faced Costa Rica on Aug. 1. Team USA swept the quarterfinals match, holding their opponents to under 20 points in each set. A seven-ace and eight-error American advantage further contributed to their semifinal advance.
While Thorne was held to a tournament-low five kills and one block, Team USA maintained its strength – the game’s top four scorers were American, and only two Costa Ricans notched over three kills.
However, Thorne bounced back with 11 kills in Team USA’s semifinals victory over previously undefeated Venezuela on Aug. 2. This match marked the sixth, seventh and eighth consecutive sets in which the Americans held their opponents to 20 points or fewer.
Team USA once again faced the Dominican Republic – the squad who delivered them their only loss thus far – in the tournament’s finale on Aug. 3.
After splitting the first four sets, both sides entered a gridlock fifth stanza. Despite an American upper hand in kills and blocks, a 27-44 error deficit held Team USA back.
After a kill from opposite Jaelen Phillips brought the Americans to a 14-13 lead in the last set, three straight kills by Figueroa eventually sealed a U.S. silver medal.
Thorne led all players with his tournament-high eight blocks – contributing to his 21 blocks across the entire campaign – clinching his title as the Best Middle Blocker in the cup.
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