The #2 UCLA Men’s Volleyball team opens MPSF play tonight when the Bruins visit Concordia University in Irvine.

This is Concordia’s first season in the MPSF. The Eagles have joined the MPSF along with Grand Canyon University for men’s volleyball. The two schools are replacing six schools which left to play in the Big West Conference. The departing schools are Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara, CSUN, UCSD, Hawai’i and UC Irvine.

The Eagles are transitioning from being an NAIA school to being an NCAA Division II school. But, they are playing volleyball in the MPSF. All Division II volleyball programs are eligible to play in the NCAA Division I Men’s Volleyball Championship because there are not enough schools in Division I or Division II to have individual Division championships.

Meanwhile, the Bruins are on a roll. Since losing in their first match against Hawai’i on January 26th, UCLA has won four straight. The Bruins defeated Hawai’i in their rematch, 3-1. Then, last week, they swept Princeton, 3-0. Last Saturday, they went to UC Irvine and topped the Anteaters, 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19) and followed that with another home win on Tuesday. This time, they defeated CSUN, 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 25-19).

The first set against the Matadors was a tough battle. The teams were tied 18-18 when Northridge jumped ahead with a 2-point lead and it wasn’t looking so good for the Bruins. But UCLA scored 7 of the set’s final 8 points to take the set 25-21.

The Matadors rallied to take the second set. With the score tied at 7-7, CSUN took 4 of the next 5 points to go ahead 11-8. While UCLA would get close, they weren’t able to tie the score back up and CSUN took the set 25-23.

CSUN took an early 4-3 lead in the third set when the Bruins went on a 6-0 run to take a 9-4 lead. Leading 13-9, UCLA would go on a 4-0 run to stretch their lead to 17-9 on their way to a 25-18 win.

With UCLA trailing the Matadors by 2, 15-13, in the fourth set, the Bruins went on a 12-4 run to win the set, 25-19, and the match, 3-1.

This is your UCLA Bruins at Concordia Eagles open thread.


Go Bruins!