BRUINS BEGIN NCAA TITLE DEFENSE THURSDAY
The UCLA men’s volleyball program, winners of back-to-back National Championships and 21 NCAA titles, heads to the NCAA Championships in Columbus, Ohio for the 2025 NCAA Championships. The Bruins will begin their quest for a 3-peat on Thursday, May 8, against No. 6-seeded Belmont Abbey at 8 am PT (11 am ET), and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
  
STATS TO KNOW

• Cooper Robinson is leading the team in kills with 335 and is averaging 3.56 kills per set while hitting .387. His .387 hitting percentage is good for 11th nationally. Of players with at least 250 kills, a total of 48 student-athletes, Robinson is second in that group in hitting percentage at .387 (Parker Van Buren, 420 kills, .410 hitting percentage).
• Zach Rama is second on the team with 288 kills on the year, an average of 3.22 per set, and is hitting .322 this season.
• Andrew Rowan has totaled 891 assists through 24 matches played, an average of 10.01 per set.
• Cameron Thorne has tallied 100 blocks over 26 matches, good for a team-leading 1.06 blocks per set. Thorne is also hitting .530 for the season and has 187 kills on the year. His blocks per set number of 1.06 put him 13th nationally in the category.

 
NCAA’S BRUIN
UCLA heads into the NCAA Tournament having won back-to-back national titles and also made the semifinals is 2022. Dating back to the 2022 tournament, UCLA is a combined 7-1 in their last eight NCAA Tournament matches, and have won titles in both 2023 and 2024.

This marks the 31st appearance by the Bruins in the NCAA MVB Championship event (60-10 overall record) … UCLA last won the NCAA title in 2024, and this is the first NCAA Tournament appearance as a head coach for first-year UCLA head coach John Hawks. 

UCLA has advanced to the NCAA MVB Championship match 28 times (21-7 record). The Bruins have won the NCAA MVB title in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982,1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2023, and 2024.

 

ALL-AMERICA BRUINS

UCLA heads into the NCAA Tournament with four players earning AVCA All-America honors. Redshirt junior Cooper Robinson, juniors Andrew Rowan and Cameron Thorne were all named to the first team, while junior Zach Rama earned second team honors.

2025 marks the fourth year in a row that the Bruins have had multiple AVCA first-team All-America designees, and the seventh year in the last 10 that the Bruins have had at least one AVCA first team All-America honoree. 

Rowan becomes the 11th Bruin to earn first team All-America honors at least three times, and becomes just the ninth Bruin to earn first team accolades three seasons in a row. Only Karch Kiraly (1979, 1980, 1981, 1982) and Adam Maeve (1997, 1998, 1999, 2001) have been named first team All-America four times.

 

BRUINS IN MPSF PLAY

UCLA heads into the NCAA Tournament having won their third consecutive MPSF regular season crown. UCLA finished the 2025 regular season 20-5 overall and 10-2 in MPSF play.

UCLA has finished with at least 10 wins in conference play in each of the last four seasons. The Bruins went 10-2 in 2025, 11-1 in 2024, a perfect 12-0 in 2023, and 11-1 in 2022. Over the last four seasons UCLA has dominated the MPSF and holds a 44-4 MPSF regular season record (.917 winning percentage).

UCLA has won either the MPSF regular season title, the MPSF tournament title, or both in each of the last four seasons. UCLA claimed the MPSF regular season crown in 2025 and 2024, won both the regular season title and tournament title in 2023, and earned the 2022 regular season title, a total of five titles in the last four seasons.

 

COOPER ROBINSON EARNS CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Cooper Robinson was named the 2025 MPSF Player of the Year, becoming UCLA’s seventh MPSF Player of the Year recipient, and third in the last four years (Merrick McHenry, 2024; Miles Partain, 2022; Brandon Taliaferro, 2000; Stein Metzger, 1996; Jeff Nygaard, 1995 & ’94).

A two-time all-conference selection, Robinson also earned MPSF second team honors in 2024. On the year, Robinson has recorded a total of 319 kills, hit .389 and tallied 32 service aces. He ranks 12th nationally in hitting percentage, and is second nationally in hitting percentage amongst players with at least 300 kills on the season.

RACKING UP THE AWARDS

Five Bruins — Cooper Robinson, Zach Rama, Andrew Rowan, Cameron Thorne, and Sean Kelly — received All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) honors in an announcement on Tuesday by the league office following a vote by the MPSF coaches. Robinson, Rama, Rowan and Thorne were all voted All-MPSF first team selections, while freshman Sean Kelly earned a spot on the honorable mention All-MPSF squad and the All-Freshman team.

• Setter Andrew Rowan earns his third consecutive All-MPSF first team honors in 2025, after being named to the All-MPSF first team in 2023 and 2024. The junior from Trabuco Canyon, California, directed the Bruins offense to an MPSF-leading .368 hitting percentage, which was also second nationally.in hitting percentage at .380.
• Outside Hitter/Opposite Zach Rama was named to the All-MPSF first team as well. This marks Rama’s second all-conference honors after the junior was named to the MPSF All-Freshman team in 2023. In 2025, Rama totaled 276 kills and hit .323 on the season.
• Middle Blocker Cameron Thorne was also named to the All-MPSF first team. A transfer from GCU, this is Thorne’s second career All-MPSF honors after earning second-team honors in 2024 while at GCU. Thorne recorded the highest hitting percentage of any player in the conference in 2025, finishing with a hitting percentage of .521.
• Freshman outside hitter Sean Kelly rounded out UCLA’s honorees. Kelly was named to both the MPSF honorable mention squad and the All-Freshman team. Kelly joined the Bruins’ starting lineup midway through the year and tallied 103 kills.

BRUINS SWEEP BYU
UCLA earned two wins over No. 7 BYU last week. The Bruins improved to 3-0 in five set matches on Friday, taking down the Cougars  in five sets, before earning a four set win on Saturday on Big Ten Network. Zach Rama paced the Bruins with a total of 30 kills across the two matches, while freshman Sean Kelly added 23 kills on 43 swings (.465 hitting percentage).

HOW MAY I ASSIST YOU?

Junior setter Andrew Rowan surpassed the 3,000 career assist milestone on Saturday in UCLA’s 3-1 win over No. 7 BYU. With his 35th assist of the match Rowan tallied his 3,000 assist, and moved into 10th all-time on the UCLA career assists list. The junior has compiled 3,012 assists to date with 1,095 coming in 2023, a career-high 1,157 assists in 2024, and 760 so far in 2025.

ROBINSON EARNS MPSF OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK

UCLA’s Cooper Robinson was named on Monday (March 31) as the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week. The redshirt junior tallied 33 total kills over two wins over Pepperdine for the No. 2 UCLA Bruins.

Robinson recorded 16 kills on 33 swings on Thursday in a 3-0 win in Pauley Pavilion, and then added 17 kills on 28 swings to hit .536 on Saturday in a 3-1 win in Malibu. The redshirt junior also added three service aces during the week.

BRUINS SPLIT WITH GCU

UCLA split a pair of road matches at GCU last week with the Bruins falling on night one, 3-0, beofre earning a bounce-back five set win on night two. The Bruins won Saturday’s match despite a season-high 42 service errors, as Robinson led the way with a season-high 19 kills to pace the Bruins to the win. 

ROBINSON NAMED AVCA, MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK

UCLA’s Cooper Robinson was named on Tuesday (March11) as the AVCA National Player of the Week. The redshirt junior registered 31 kills on 53 swings, with five errors, to hit .491 for the week as UCLA beat No. 10 Stanford twice, 3-1 on Thursday and 3-0 on Friday in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.

• This is the second time that Robinson has earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors. Robinson also won MPSF/Molton Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday, March 10.
• This is the second time in his career that Robinson has earned AVCA National Player of the Week honors. Robinson also won MPSF/Molton Offensive Player of the Week honors on Monday, March 10.
• With Robinson earning AVCA National Player of the Week, it marks the 28th time overall that a Bruin has earned the honor, and the second time in 2025. Prior to Robinson, the most recent AVCA National Player of the Week honoree was Cameron Thorne for his play during the week of February 24, 2024.

UCLA SWEEP UC SANTA BARBARA
UCLA men’s volleyball two wins over No. 16 UC Santa Barbara last week. The Bruins beat UCSB inside Pauley Pavilion on Thursday, 3-1, before winning the return leg in Santa Barbara, 3-1 as well.

• On Thursday in Pauley Pavilion Zach Rama led the way for UCLA (9-3) offensively on Wednesday, finishing with 14 kills on 25 attempts to hit .440, while Cooper Robinson added 13 kills and Thorne chipped in with seven kills on nine attempts.
• As for Saturday in Santa Barbara, Cooper Robinson led the team with 13 kills on 23 swings on Friday, while Cameron Thorne tallied 11 kills on 12 swings to hit .917 on the night. Zach Rama and David Decker both finished in double digit kills as well with 11 and 10 kills respectively.

KILLA CAM
Cameron Thorne had a stellar week in UCLA’s two wins over UC Irvine. The junior registered 32 kills on 38 swings, with four errors, to hit .711 for the week as UCLA beat No. 2 UC Irvine twice, 3-0 on Wednesday in Irvine, and 3-2 on Saturday in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom.

• For his play Thorne was named AVCA National Player of the Week and MPSF Offensive player of the Week.
• On Wednesday in Irvine, California, Thorne tallied a then career-high 15 kills in UCLA’s 3-0 sweep of UC Irvine. On the day Thorne recorded a .579 hitting percentage, and added three blocks in the win at No. 2 UCI.
• As for Saturday, Thorne continued his success at the net and produced a career-high 17 kills on 19 swings to hit .842 on the day. A Hollywood, Florida native, Thorne also added three service aces and six blocks to his tally.
• Thorne finished the week averaging 4.00 kills per set across the two matches, 1.13 blocks per set and 5.00 points per set.

BRUINS SWEEP UC IRVINE
UCLA men’s volleyball earned back-to-back wins against No. 2 UC Irvine last week. The Bruins beat UCI in Irvine, 3-0, before winning the return leg 3-2 in five sets inside Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. Saturday’s contest marked the first time UCLA had played in a five set match in 2025.

• UCLA has now won five matches in a row against UCI dating back to the beginning of the 2024 season.
• On Wednesday in Irvine, California, Cameron Thorne, Cooper Robinson, and Sean McQuiggan all finished in double-digit kills on the night. Thorne tallied a career-high 15, Robinson added 11, and McQuiggan added a career-high 10. As a team, UCLA hit .442 in the match, while McQuiggan hit 1.000 and Thorne hit. 579 to pace the Bruins offensively.
• As for Saturday, Cameron Thorne led the Bruins (8-3) attack with 17 kills on 19 attempts, hitting .842 for the match. He also added a team-high six blocks in the win. Cooper Robinson and Zach Rama tacked on 15 kills and 11 kills, respectively, as the Bruins hit .406 as a team on the night.

THE BRUINS JUST WIN
UCLA enters the 2025 season having won at least 22 matches over the last three seasons. Throughout those three seasons UCLA has a record of 79-14 (.849 winning percentage), have won two NCAA titles, and four MPSF titles.  

TOP OF THE CLASS

UCLA enters the 2025 season having won 34 of their last 36 MPSF matches dating back to the 2022 season. UCLA’s MPSF records over that timeframe are 11-1 in 2024, 12-0 in 2023, and 11-1 in 2022. The Bruins’ winning percentage over that span is .944.

A PERFECT 10 OUT OF 10

In UCLA’s 3-0 sweep of UCI in Irvine, redshirt junior Sean McQuiggan tied the program record for highest hitting percentage in a single match. McQuiggan finished with 10 kills on 10 attack attempts and became the second Bruin to ever hit 1.000 in a match.  The only other Bruin to do so was J.R. Norris IV, who also went 10-for-10 back in 2022 against Morehouse.

COOP’S BIG DAY

Redshirt junior Cooper Robinson had a career day in UCLA’s 3-1win over No. 15 CSUN. The Pacific Palisades, Calif. native recorded 22.5 points, 15 kills, a career-high six aces, and three total blocks. His six service aces were the most of any Bruin so far in a single match this season. Heading into Thursday’s match Robinsons’ six aces against CSUN were tied for the most in the NCAA in any four-set match. 

2024 IN REVIEW

The Bruins earned their second national championship in a row, defeating Long Beach State in four sets

• UCLA returns 16 players who were on the roster during the title-winning 2024 campaign
• UCLA finished the season 26-5 and 11-1 in MPSF play and finished top of the standings during the MPSF regular season
• The Bruins finished in the top five in the country in multiple categories during the 2024 season. UCLA led the nation in hitting percentage at .372, while the Bruins had the second-highest winning percentage in the country at .839. UCLA also was fourth in the country in blocks per set at 2.52 and was fourth nationally in aces per set at 1.90.
• Ethan Champlin and Cooper Robinson both finished in the top 20 nationally in hitting percentage. Champlin hit .339 good for 17th on the list while Robinson hit .332 to put him 20th nationally.
• Five Bruins earned All-America honors, and three earned first-team nods. Champlin, Merrick McHenry and Andrew Rowan all earned first-team honors, while Grant Sloane and Cooper Robinson were awarded honorable mention All-America honors.
• Over the last two seasons (2023, 2024) UCLA has gone a combined 57-7 (.891 winning percentage) have won two NCAA titles, two MPSF regular season titles and an MPSF tournament title (2023).

MAKING AN IMPACT
Thiago Zamprogno made his first career appearance in UCLA’s 3-1 win over No. 14 UC San Diego, playing two sets off the bench and earning six kills off of seven swings, hitting .714 and adding a block. Zamprogno then earned the start at No. 15 CSUN and helped the Bruins to a 3-1 win on the road with four blocks, three kills and three digs.

A DAY OF FIRSTS

In UCLA’s season-opening win over St. Francis that was played in Long Beach due to the wildfires in the Los Angeles area, multiple firsts happened for the Bruins.

• Head Coach John Hawks earned his first career win as head coach of the UCLA men’s volleyball program.
• Cameron Thorne, Sean Kelly, and Trent Taliaferro all made their first appearances as a member of the Bruins.
• UCLA earned its first win of the 2025 season in its first match.

 
NEW JOHN ON THE BLOCK
John Hawks, who was an assistant coach at UCLA from 2015-22 and head coach at Loyola University Chicago from 2022-24, has been name the third head coach men’s volleyball history, The Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond announced on Friday, October 11, 2024. Hawks also currently serves as the head coach of the U21 USA National Team, and recently won Gold at the NORCECA Qualifiers this past summer in Mexico, earning a bid to the World Championships in China next summer. In Hawks’ two seasons as head coach of Loyola Chicago, he posted a 40-17 record (.702 winning percentage), earned Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) Coach of the Year honors in 2023, and coached six All-Americans.