BRUINS CONTINUE NCAA TITLE DEFENSE MONDAY
The UCLA men’s volleyball program, winners of back-to-back National Championships and 21 NCAA titles, heads to the NCAA Championship finals on Monday, May 12. The Bruins will continue their quest for a 3-peat on Monday, May 12, against the No. 1 seed Long Beach State at 4 pm PT (7 pm ET), and will be broadcast on ESPN2. 
   
STATS TO KNOW

• Cooper Robinson is leading the team in kills with 355 and is averaging 3.55 kills per set while hitting .388. His .388 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 .388 (Parker Van Buren, 420 kills, .410 hitting percentage). 
• Zach Rama is second on the team with 311 kills on the year, an average of 3.24 per set, and is hitting .325 this season.
• Andrew Rowan has totaled 962 assists through 27 matches played, an average of 10.13 per set. 
• Cameron Thorne has tallied 109 blocks over 28 matches, good for a team-leading 1.09 blocks per set. Thorne is also hitting .534 for the season and has 197 kills on the year. His blocks per set number of 1.09 put him 13th nationally in the category.

NCAA’S BRUIN

• UCLA heads into Monday’s final having reached at least the semifinal round in the last four seasons. Dating back to the 2022 tournament UCLA is a combined 9-1 in their last 10 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 (62-10 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.

BRING ON THE BEACH
UCLA will face a familiar opponent on Monday in Long Beach State in the final. The Bruins and Beach have matched up a total of 96 times, with the Bruins holding a 71-42 overall record over Long Beach State. 

As for the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins and Beach have met five times. The Bruins hold a 3-2 overall record in the tournament over the Beach and won the most recent matchup in the 2024 NCAA title match, 3-1. That match was also held at Long Beach’s Walter Pyramid.  

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.

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.

INDIANAPOLIS — Juliette Dhalluin score three goals on Sunday and the Stanford defense allowed just one second-half goal to help the Cardinal beat USC 11-7 to claim its 10th NCAA women’s water polo championship and third in the last four seasons.

No. 1 Stanford (25-1) finished the season on a 10-game win streak, dating to a 12-11 loss to the Trojans on March 29. The Cardinal beat USC 11-7 on April 27 in the semifinals of the MPSF Championship.

Dhalluin scored with a second left in the first half to make it 6-6 and again with 6:47 left in the third — the only goal of the quarter — gave Stanford the lead for good.

Serena Browne added a goal with 6:04 to play and another with 3:06 remaining to make it 9-6.Ryann Neushul scored a goal to give her 228 — fifth most in program history for the redshirt senior from Goleta — in her seven-year career (after winning the 2019 national championship, Neushul stepped away from the Cardinal for two years to train with the U.S. national team) and is the first four-time NCAA team champion in Stanford history.

USC (29-5) led early 3-1 and was poised to take a lead into halftime but Dhalluin, a redshirt sophomore from France, scored in the final second of the first half for a 6-6 tie at the break, and she scored again 6:47 of the third quarter for a 7-6 lead Stanford would not relinquish.

Kamryn Barone added two goals and an assist, and Jenna Flynn had two goals and two assists for Stanford. Christine Carpenter, a sophomore from Yucaipa High, had nine saves for the Cardinal.

Emily Ausmus, a freshman from Riverside King, had a goal and two assists, Meghan McAninch, a sophomore from Orinda, had two goals, and Anna Reed, a redshirt freshman from Newport Harbor High, had 11 saves for USC (29-5).McAninch, Ava Stryker, and Ausmus scored as USC took a 3-1 lead after the first quarter. Isabel Zimmerman, Alma Yaacobi and Tilly Kearns scored for the Trojans in the second quarter. Yaacobi’s goal gave USC a 5-3 lead with 3:28 left before half but a team goal and a Dhalluin score tied the championship at 5-5 with 52 seconds left.

Kearns gave USC its last lead with 23 seconds left in the first half before Dhalluin beat the horn.

The Cardinal are the all-time leaders in NCAA team championship with 137 and have won at least one team title in each of the past 49 seasons.

Originally Published: May 11, 2025 at 12:35 PM PDT

Santa Barbara High boys volleyball went on the road and earned a sweep of Santiago High in the CIF-SS Division 4 Semifinals on Saturday in Corona, 25-21, 25-16, 30-28.

The Dons will face off against Sage Hill in the CIF-SS Division 4 title matchup next weekend. The time, date and location will be announced on Monday.

“I am so proud of these boys and what they’ve all accomplished this year,” Santa Barbara High head coach Chad Arneson said. “The amount of growth and chemistry has been phenomenal. 

“When you start the season, you have personal and team goals you want to achieve, and our boys get an opportunity to win a CIF title next week, and that’s all you ask for.”

The 2025 squad is Arneson’s fifth to reach the CIF Finals, the last of which won the 2021 Division 2 championship over Huntington Beach.

The Santa Barbara High serving game proved to be the difference in the first two sets, led by an 11-serve run in set two by Hayes Costner.

Costner’s run from the service line, which featured seven aces, allowed the Dons to race out to an 11-2 lead and cruise to the 2-0 overall advantage from there.

In the third set, the two sides exchanged blows back and forth as Santa Barbara vied for the sweep and Santiago battled to keep its season alive.

Chase Holdren facilitated a strong Dons’ offensive attack while Jack Goligoski, who had 14 digs, provided three aces down the stretch to earn the 30-28 win in set three.

“Chase’s setting decisions are a key to our success and he continues to shine each round by sharing the wealth by making the correct sets at the right time,” Arneson said. “Santiago continued to fight in each game and gain some momentum, however, our boys wouldn’t let that happen.”

Holdrren ended the night with 35 assists to go along with nine digs while finding Benicio Duarte and Luke Zuffelato on the outside, who each tallied 12 kills.

In the middle, Carter Hubbard hammered down six kills on seven attempts while Kristian Dybdahl collected five kills.

El Toro 3, Laguna Blanca 2 (Div. 6)

The Owls fell in the CIF-SS Division 6 Semifinals with a five-set loss to El Toro on Saturday, 20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 15-25, 13-15.

“We had our chances tonight, but just couldn’t sustain any momentum, especially in the fifth,” Laguna Blanca head coach Jason Donnelly said. “We played hard and left it on the floor. I’m really proud of the boys’ effort tonight. Unfortunately, we came up just a little short.

“This team grew so much over the course of the season, and particularly during this playoff run. It was fun to be a part of it.”

Liam Knezevic led the Owls with 20 kills and 10 digs, while Tyson Deveze recorded 11 kills.

Baylor Wilson was in the middle of the action to the tune of 35 assists, and Soren Alldredge contributed six kills and three blocks.

LBSU celebrates a point in its win over Pepperdine on Saturday at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio. This win sent them to the National Championship where they will play UCLA on Sunday, May 11, at 4 p.m. on ESPN+. Photo credit: Mark Siquig

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Long Beach State men’s volleyball is set to take on the University of California, Los Angeles Bruins on Monday, May 12, at 4 p.m. at the Covelli Center in Columbus, Ohio, in a rematch of last year’s National Championship.

“Last year, you know, falling short in the finals and even in the Big West, I think we’re all a little hungry for a championship,” senior middle blocker DiAeris McRaven said.

The Beach and the Bruins met twice in the regular season, with The Beach sweeping twice, both at home and in Westwood. But as the saying goes, “It’s hard to beat a team three times.”

The two teams are separated by only 35 miles and have won four of the last six national championships. The Bruins claimed the last two titles, including last year’s victory over The Beach, while The Beach last won in 2019.

The Bruins are led by redshirt junior opposite hitter Cooper Robinson, who is coming off nine kills in the Bruins’ Final Four sweep of Hawai’i and is 13th in the nation in kills with 346.

Early in the match against Pepperdine, The Beach struggled to get past the block of the Waves, but as the match went on, a mixture of finesse from redshirt senior opposite Nato Dickinson and power from freshman outside hitter Alex Kandev were successful, as the two combined for 39 kills.

Kandev was pulled out of practice early, the day before the National Championship, but Knipe said there is nothing to worry about, and monitoring a player’s jumps is common.

“He’s had a lot of jumps the last couple of nights and we want those legs fresh,” Knipe said.

LBSU’s hitters will have to find the same success against UCLA, which posts the 11th-most blocks per set in the country, with 2.9.

Defensively, UCLA is led by 6-foot-4-inch junior middle blocker Cameron Thorne, who is ninth in the country with 106 blocks on the season.

As Saturday’s match against Pepperdine went on, LBSU cleaned up its attack errors with nine in the first two sets and only two in the last two sets, but one thing it will need to clean up against UCLA is the service errors.

The Beach posted 21 service errors, and every time it felt like they were about to go on a run, a service error was committed. 

With sophomore opposite Daniil Hershtynovich and senior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis sidelined for the national championship, The Beach will need production again from Kandev and Dickinson, as well as redshirt junior opposite Skyler Varga. 

Varga only posted four kills in the first round vs. Fort Valley State, but picked up his production against UCLA with 11 kills.

“If I’m the guy that we have to lean on, then I’ll do that,” Varga said. “Whatever role is presented to me, I’ll step into it.”

The match will be aired live on Monday at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

“Two really really talented teams playing great volleyball, and it’ll come down to execution and a few points here and there, which they always do,” LBSU head coach Alan Knipe said. “We look forward to the challenge, we can’t wait to get after it tomorrow.”

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.— Babson College first-year Amrit Rehal (Alpharetta, Ga.) took first place in the women’s high jump to highlight the Beaver performances on Saturday at the Farley Inter Regional track & field meet at Williams College.

Rehal posted a leap of 5-feet, 5.25 inches to claim the title, an inch higher than Amherst sophomore Leah Smth, who cleared 5-feet, 4.25-inches. Babson junior Brooke Jankowski (Derry, N.H.) finished fifth with a mark of 5-feet, 2.25 inches.

Sophomore Colleen Corman (Quaker Hill, Conn.) turned in a strong performance in the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line with a career-best time of 1:06.22, which was good for sixth place.

First-year Victoria Hart (Greenwich, Conn.) qualified for the finals in the 100-meter hurdles. She qualified eighth with a time of 15.51 second and ended up eighth in the finals with a 15.60. Jankowski just missed the finals, finishing ninth in 15.72 second while junior Julia Pike (Mansfield, Mass.) was 15h in 16.41.

Junior Trista Sicard (Mansfield, Mass.) finished 13h in the triple jump with a leap of 34-feet, 1-inch. Classmate Robyn Wilkes (Atlanta, Ga.) finished 18th in her two races, finishing the 100 meters in 12.74 second and the 200 meters in 26.11.

First-year Patrick Allardi (Andover, Mass.) qualified for the finals in the 110-meter hurdles. He qualified sixth with a time of 15.10 seconds and finished eighth in the finals in 15.54 seconds. Classmate Jackson Adams (Norwell, Mass.) placed eighth in the 400-meter hurdles with a PR time of 56.08 seconds.

First-year Nick Yacoub (Sharon, Mass.) and junior Julian Ivarra (Plano, Texas) were Babson’s entries in the 5000 meters. Yacoub finished 22th in a time of 14:54.26 and Ivarra was 38th in 15:34.66.

Babson returns to action with a last chance meet at UMass Amherst on Thursday before the NCAA Championships selections are made late next week.

Bingham’s boys volleyball team held true to its No. 1 ranking with a 3-1 (25-20, 25-19, 23-25, 25-18) victory over No. 3 Mountain Ridge in the 6A championship match on Saturday in Orem.

The Miners closed out the season as hot as any team, not losing after spring break and dropping only one set in the state tournament to its regional rival in the championship. 

“When they took that third set, I wasn’t too worried because I knew we’d come back with fire,” said Bingham coach Ben Chamberlain.

“Mountain Ridge is an incredible team. Those boys fight and did an incredible job. Rivals in our region and a brotherhood off the court.”

The two teams split their regular season matches, with both winning at home. That left bragging rights for the rivalry in the hand of a neutral court and in the biggest match of the season. 

The Miners were better on both sides of the net throughout the match Saturday, but it was their serving that helped them make runs when they needed them.

The first set was close with back-and-forth score shifts before middle blocker Ethan Peterson helped Bingham pull away behind serving that left the Sentinels scrambling. That scrambling took away Mountain Ridge’s ability to set up its offense. 

“If you have consistent serves and make your serves, you’re going to make them have to beat you playing volleyball instead of beating ourselves,” said the senior Peterson. 

Serving was a showcase for the Peterson pair, as sophomore Derek orchestrated runs across the match as well. Bingham held control in the second set and looked ready to close things out before Mountain Ridge extended play with a third-set win.

The Sentinels built out a 17-11 lead after winning a 50-50 ball at the net but then had to be stalwarts in thwarting the Miners’ hope for a sweep as they rallied back to tie it at 23-23.

The Sentinels regrouped and scored the next two points, with the game winner coming off a much-needed block.

Mountain Ridge carried momentum into the fourth set with another back-and-forth battle that had the things tied up at 17-17, but Bingham proved too much behind Derek Peterson’s serve and JJ Faiivae and Ethan Peterson’s approach to end on an impressive run.  

“I feel like our team was the most balanced all the way through,” said Ethan Peterson. “Every team has one or two really great hitters, but it felt like our team had someone who could get a kill everywhere on the court and that’s what really made us special. Everybody was able to get that kill when we needed it.”

The Miners were balanced across the board, but it was Faiivae who proved he’s the state’s next big star. The sophomore’s attack wreaked havoc on the Sentinels across sets as his swing was so powerful and fast it was tough to set up a block.

It’s somewhat surprising to find out Faiivae had to break through a mental block of being blocked and just let himself play this year. 

“We just said you’re a sophomore and swing like that. You’ve got to swing away,” said Chamberlain.

It was a great finish for Chamberlain, who could be found after the game jumping around like a kid in a candy store, but who wouldn’t be that excited after winning a championship in their debut season? 

Faiivae led all players with 16 kills, while Brody Siddoway and Jerico Jones tallied six apiece. Ethan Peterson finished with five kills and six block touches.

Clark Fowler had 13 kills for Mountain Ridge while Nesta Vaitai added 12 with three block touches.