2026 UCLA Bruins men's volleyball team
| 2026 UCLA Bruins men's volleyball | |
|---|---|
| Conference | Mountain Pacific Sports Federation |
| Record | 18-0 (5-0 MPSF) |
| Head coach |
|
| Associate head coach | Milan Zarkovic (1st season) |
| Assistant coaches |
|
| Home arena | Pauley Pavilion |
The 2026 UCLA Bruins men's volleyball team is the varsity intercollegiate volleyball program of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). The team's home venue is Pauley Pavilion located on campus in Los Angeles, California. UCLA has been a member of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) since the conference's inception for the 1993 season.[1] UCLA began the season ranked first in the nation.[2] This year is also the first year that twelve teams will have a chance to play in the NCAA men's volleyball tournament, as the NCAA expanded the tournament to accommodate the sport's growth.[3]
| Conf. | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 1 UCLA | 3 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 12 | – | 0 | 1.000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 18 Stanford | 3 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 4 | – | 8 | .333 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 7 BYU | 2 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 12 | – | 2 | .857 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 4 USC | 1 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 8 | – | 1 | .889 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 6 Pepperdine | 1 | – | 0 | 1.000 | 7 | – | 3 | .700 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Jessup | 0 | – | 1 | .000 | 5 | – | 4 | .556 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Merced | 0 | – | 1 | .000 | 3 | – | 5 | .375 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Concordia Irvine | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 3 | – | 8 | .273 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Menlo | 0 | – | 2 | .000 | 1 | – | 7 | .125 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vanguard | 0 | – | 4 | .000 | 3 | – | 9 | .250 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – MPSF tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of February 20, 2026 Rankings from AVCA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous season
In 2025, the UCLA Bruins lost to Pepperdine in the MPSF tournament semifinals 2-3.[4] The team then received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, looking to a third national championship in a row. Ultimately, the Bruins lost to Long Beach State in the national championship match in three straight sets.[5]
Preseason
Source:[6]
The preseason MPSF Coaches' Poll was released on December 11, 2025.
MPSF Coaches' Poll
| Pos. | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 75 (4) |
| T-2 | Pepperine | 74 (4) |
| USC | 74 (2) | |
| 4 | Stanford | 54 |
| 5 | BYU | 52 |
| 6 | Concordia | 37 |
| 7 | Menlo | 31 |
| 8 | Vanguard | 26 |
| 9 | Jessup | 18 |
| 10 | UC Merced | 13 |
Roster
| No. | Name | Position | Height | Year | Hometown |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cameron Thorne | MB | 6-4 | Sr. | Hollywood, Fla. |
| 2 | Jaidin Russell | MB | 6-4 | Jr. | Newton, Mass. |
| 3 | Luca Curci | MB | 6-4 | Jr. | Newport Beach, Calif. |
| 4 | Brogan Glenn | MB | 6-4 | Fr. | Costa Mesa, Calif. |
| 5 | Caleb Sapp | MB | 6-4 | So. | Upland, Calif. |
| 6 | Spencer Graves | MB | 6-4 | So. | Pacific Palisades, Calif. |
| 7 | Andrew Rowan | MB | 6-4 | Sr. | Trabuco Canyon, Calif. |
| 8 | Micah Wong Diallo | MB | 6-4 | Jr. | Los Angeles, Calif. |
| 9 | Trent Taliaferro | MB | 6-4 | So. | Redondo Beach, Calif. |
| 10 | Filippos Chrysotomou | MB | 6-4 | Fr. | Larnaca, Cyprus |
| 12 | Sean Kelly | MB | 6-4 | So. | Manhattan Beach, Calif. |
| 13 | Matthew Thornton | MB | 6-4 | Jr. | Dana Point, Calif |
| 15 | Christopher Hersh | MB | 6-4 | R-Jr. | Cupertino, Calif. |
| 19 | David Decker | MB | 6-4 | R-Jr. | Winston-Salem, N.C. |
| 20 | Grayson Bradford | MB | 6-4 | Fr. | Manhattan Beach, Calif. |
| 21 | Zach Rama | MB | 6-4 | So. | Phoenix, Ariz. |
| 23 | Rafael Urbina | MB | 6-4 | Fr. | Broomfield, Colo. |
| 24 | Marek Turner | MB | 6-4 | Fr. | Long Beach, Calif. |
| 28 | Christopher Connelly | L | 5-9 | R-Jr. | Naples, Fla. |
Coaches
| Position | Name | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Head Coach | John Hawks | 2nd |
| Associate Head Coach | Milan Zarkovic | 1st |
| Assistant coach 1 | Lindsey Brown | 2nd |
| Assistant coach 2 | Alex Knight | 1st |
Schedule
Source:[9]
| Date Time | TV/Radio | Opponent | Rank | Stadium | Score | Sets | Attendance | Overall | MPSF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 9
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | No. 15 McKendree | #1 | Pauley Pavilion | W, 3-0 [10] | 25-16
25-18 25-22 |
800 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| Jan. 11
5:00 pm |
B1G+ | Concordia
MPSF |
#1 | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-0 [11] | 25-13
25-20 25-17 |
681 | 2-0 | 1-0 |
| First Point Collegiate Challege | |||||||||
| Jan. 17
6:00 pm |
ESPN+ | No. 16 Ball State | #1 | Phoenix Convention Center | W, 3-1 [12] | 22-25
26-24 26-24 25-20 |
2200 | 3-0 | 2-0 |
| Jan. 18
6:00 pm |
ESPNU | No. 6 Loyola Chicago | #1 | Phoenix Convention Center
Phoenix, AZ |
W, 3-0 [13] | 25-23
25-19 26-24 |
2200 | 4-0 | 2-0 |
| Jan 22
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | Fort Valley State | #1 | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-0 [14] | 25-21
25-17 25-15 |
515 | 5-0 | 2-0 |
| Jan. 23
7:00 pm |
ESPN+ | @ No. 11 UC San Diego | #1 | LionTree Arena | W, 3-0 [15] | 25-21
25-21 28-26 |
2540 | 6-0 | 2-0 |
| Jan. 27
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | Vanguard
MPSF |
#1 | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-0 [16] | 25-17
25-21 25-20 |
434 | 7-0 | 2-0 |
| Jan. 29
7:00 pm |
BTN | Ohio State | #1 | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-0 [17] | 25-21
48-46 25-20 |
1056 | 8-0 | 3-0 |
| Feb. 6
7:00 pm |
ESPN+ | @ No.2 Long Beach State | #1 | Walter Pyramid | W, 3-2 [18] | 16-25
22-25 25-22 25-19 15-10 |
4252 | 9-0 | 3-0 |
| Feb. 7
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | @ Vanguard
MPSF |
#1 | Freed Center | W, 3-0 [19] | 25-18
25-20 25-17 |
307 | 10-0 | 3-0 |
| Feb. 13
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | CSUN | #1 | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-0 [20] | 25-18
25-20 25-22 |
1057 | 11-0 | 4-0 |
| Feb. 20
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | No. 2 Long Beach State | #1 | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-1 [21] | 25-15
23-25 27-25 26-24 |
4842 | 12-0 | 4-0 |
| Feb. 25
7:00 pm |
ESPN+ | @ No. 12 UC Santa Barbara | #1 | Thunderdome | W, 3-0 [22] | 25-23
28-26 32-30 |
1595 | 13-0 | 4-0 |
| Feb. 27
7:00 pm |
Not Televised | @ No. 4 UC Irvine | #1 | Bren Events Center | W, 3-2 [23] | 25-22
20-25 28-30 25-22 15-11 |
4133 | 14-0 | 4-0 |
| Mar. 3
7:00 pm |
BTN | @ No. 5 USC
MPSF |
#1 | Galen Center
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-2 [24] | 21-25
25-23 22-25 30-28 15-9 |
2733 | 15-0 | 4-0 |
| Mar. 6
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | No. 5 USC
MPSF |
#1 | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
W, 3-1 [25] | 25-22
23-25 25-15 25-19 |
5373 | 16-0 | 5-0 |
| OUTRIGGER Invitational | |||||||||
| Mar. 12
7:00 pm |
SPEC | No. 14 Lewis | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center | W, 3-0 [26] | 25-22
25–23 25-19 |
— | 17-0 | 5-0 |
| Mar. 13
7:00 pm |
SPEC | Mount Olive | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI |
Cancelled | 17-0 | 5-0 | ||
| Mar. 14
7:00 |
SPEC | @ No. 3 Hawaii | #1 | Stan Sheriff Center
Honolulu, HI |
W, 3-0 [27] | 25-18
25-20 30-28 |
10300 | 18-0 | 5-0 |
| MPSF Conference Matches | |||||||||
| Mar. 27
6:00 pm |
@ Stanford | Maples Pavilion | - | ||||||
| Mar. 28
6:00 pm |
@ Stanford | Maples Pavilion
Stanford, CA |
- | - | |||||
| Apr. 2
6:00 pm |
B1G+ | @ Pepperdine | Firestone Fieldhouse | - | - | ||||
| Apr. 4
5:00 pm |
B1G+ | Pepperdine* | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
- | - | ||||
| Apr. 9
6:00 pm |
B1G+ | @ UC Merced* | Joseph E. Gallo Center | - | - | ||||
| Apr. 10
6:00 pm |
B1G+ | @ UC Merced* | Joseph E. Gallo Center | - | - | ||||
| Apr. 12
2:00 pm |
B1G+ | @ Menlo* | Haynes-Prim Pavilion | - | |||||
| Apr. 16
7:00 pm |
B1G+ | @ BYU* | Smith Fieldhouse | - | - | ||||
| Apr. 18
5:00 pm |
B1G+ | @ BYU* | Smith Fieldhouse
Provo, UT |
- | - | ||||
| MPSF Tournament | |||||||||
| Apr 22-25 | TBA | TBA | Smith Fieldhouse
Provo, UT |
- | - | ||||
| NCAA Regionals | |||||||||
| May 1-2 | TBA | TBA | TBA | - | - | ||||
| NCAA Championship | |||||||||
| May 9 | TBA | TBA Semifinal | Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
- | - | ||||
| May 11 | TBA | TBA
Finals |
Pauley Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA |
- | - | ||||
Time: Pacific Standard Time
Rankings
Source:[2]
| Weeks | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Final |
| AVCA | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
References
- ^ "About the MPSF". mpsports.org. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ a b "Check out the latest polls for NCAA & high school volleyball". AVCA. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
- ^ "National Collegiate MVB Championship Expanding to 12 Teams". AVCA. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
- ^ "Pepperdine stuns defending champs UCLA in MPSF Tournament semifinals – Off the Block". www.offtheblockblog.com. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "Long Beach State wins the 2025 men's volleyball championship | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2026-03-16.
- ^ "UCLA Tops 2026 MPSF Men's Volleyball Coaches' Poll". mpsports.org. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "Men's Volleyball Roster". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "2026 Men's Volleyball Coaches". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "2026 Men's Volleyball Schedule". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Sweeps No. 15 McKendree, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 Bruins Sweep Past Concordia, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "Decker Leads No. 1 UCLA Past No. 16 Ball State, 3-1". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "Rama Leads No. 1 UCLA in Sweep of No. 6 Loyola Chicago, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Sweeps Fort Valley State, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Sweeps No. 11 UC San Diego, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 Bruins Beat Vanguard, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 Bruins Sweep No. 13 Ohio State, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Pulls Off Reverse Sweep of No. 2 Long Beach State, 3-2". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Sweeps Vanguard, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Takes Down No. 17 CSUN, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Beats No. 2 LBSU, 3-1". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Sweeps No. 12 UC Santa Barbara, Improves to 13-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Outlasts No. 4 UC Irvine in Five Sets, 3-2". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Takes Down No. 5 USC in Five Sets, Improves to 15-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Beats No. 5 USC in Four Sets, 3-1". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Takes Down No. 14 Lewis, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.
- ^ "No. 1 UCLA Sweeps No. 3 Hawai'i, 3-0". UCLA. Retrieved 2026-03-17.