UCLA Men's Volleyball Blows 2-Set Lead, Falls in NCAA Semifinals to LBSU

An early lead and home court advantage were not enough to carry the Bruins to the national championship match.

The Bruins’ torrid start turned into a faltering finish as the blue and gold dropped the third, fourth and fifth sets to whiff on their shot at reaching the NCAA Tournament Final.

UCLA men’s volleyball (22-4, 11-2 MPSF) started Thursday night’s semifinal match against No. 1 seed Long Beach State (20-5, 7-5) with convincing set wins to jump ahead 2-0, but as the match lingered on, the Beach grew more triumphant. UCLA lost the match in five sets (25-18, 25-18, 15-25, 10-25, 14-16), another reminder of their loss in the 2018 National Championship against Long Beach State, when they lost in the same fashion. 

Sophomore outside hitter Ethan Champlin led the Bruins in kills with 13, but also led in errors with five.

Despite collapsing in five sets, the Bruins began with momentum swinging only in their direction.

The Bruins got off to a 5-3 lead in the opening set when redshirt senior libero Cole Pender saved a UCLA deflection from dropping out of bounds and awkwardly passed the ball towards the net for Champlin to power between three the Beach blockers.

Ahead, 12-9, UCLA ever so slightly bolstered its lead. Junior outside hitter Alex Knight, redshirt sophomore middle blocker Merrick McHenry and redshirt junior opposite Kevin Kobrine all blocked ace attempts and brought the Bruins ahead 15-11.

Long Beach State failed to come from behind in that first set, faltering as the frame moved along. An attack error from Beach outside hitter Spencer Oliver brought the Bruins’ lead to five and after Long Beach State called a timeout, Champlin took center stage on the Pauley Pavilion floor.

Two kills from the Oceanside, California, native gave UCLA their 20th and 21st points, and after two more Long Beach State timeouts, Champlin finished off the set with his fourth kill of the match.

The Bruins’ flurry of scoring only continued onward into the second set.

Kobrine added three kills himself, redshirt freshman middle blocker Genis Guy earned a kill and Champlin converted a service ace to help give UCLA an early 10-5 advantage in the set.

Champlin followed up his three-kill first set with four kills in the second. The First Team All-MPSF outside hitter had back-to-back kills to keep the Bruins ahead 18-14, and after an attack error from Kobrine, Champlin fired another service ace in between the Beach’s ascending blockers to make it 20-15.

Finishing off the run were McHenry, followed by Knight, who claimed set point with a kill.

An early two-set lead for the Bruins lit a fire under the Beach as Long Beach State scored a 25-15 third set victory. UCLA had seven errors in the set and could not recover from their own mistakes, despite coach John Speraw calling two timeouts to try and salvage a three-set sweep.

The fourth set was reminiscent of the third. Six of the Beach’s first 14 points came off of errors, placing the Bruins in an eight-point hole. Speraw called two more timeouts to try and refocus his squad, even making substitutions to change the flow of the action.

But adjustments, or none at all, UCLA could not take the rhythm back to their side and fell in consecutive sets — this time by 25-10.

Tied 2-2, the final set started in a back-and-forth fashion. Long Beach State scored three points, but UCLA matched the total with Pender, Kobrine and Knight getting kills.

Champlin, who had played a silent role in the third and fourth sets, returned to action as the Bruins’ outside hitter. A kill from him tied the score at five, and on the following point, a double-hit was called on the Beach and Champlin scored the third consecutive point on a kill to put UCLA up 7-5.

Unlike the previous two sets, the Bruins played it close with the Beach. Even when UCLA was down 14-13 and Long Beach State had set point, a service error tied the score at 14.

But after the Beach’s freshman outside hitter Alex Nikolov deposited yet another kill away from the wall of Bruin blockers on the left side of the net, Long Beach State closed off the comeback win to advance to the NCAA Tournament Final.

Freshman outside hitter/opposite Ido David, redshirt senior middle blocker J.R. Norris IV and redshirt junior outside hitter Sam Burgi appeared as subs to try and switch up the action in the third, fourth and fifth sets, but the trio of bench options could not lift UCLA to victory.

Follow Royer on Twitter at @thebenroyer
Follow All Bruins on Twitter at @SI_AllBruins
Like All Bruins on Facebook at @SI.AllBruins
Subscribe to All Bruins on YouTube

Read more UCLA stories: UCLA Bruins on Sports Illustrated
Read more UCLA Olympic sports stories: UCLA Olympic Sports on Sports Illustrated