LONG BEACH — Before the UCLA men’s volleyball team took the court on Thursday afternoon for its NCAA semifinal, the Bruins were already a man down.
Grant Sloane rolled his ankle on a jump serve during warmups and the junior outside hitter was forced to watch as the top-seeded Bruins took on fourth-seeded UC Irvine in the biggest match of the season.
Sloane might have inadvertently provided the extra bit of motivation his teammates needed in the 22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 18-25, 15-12 victory at Long Beach State’s Walter Pyramid.
“To see Grant go down, I think we kind of bonded with that,” UCLA outside hitter Merrick McHenry said. “We had a quick chat and said, ‘Do it for Grant,’ and I think that showed.”
The Bruins (25-5) will get a chance to defend their national championship on Saturday afternoon against the winner of the second semifinal between second-seeded Long Beach State and third-seeded Grand Canyon.
Ethan Champlin had 19 kills, Cooper Robinson had 11 kills and McHenry finished with 10 as the Bruins hit .404 as a team, better than their nation-leading .370 mark on the season.
“Incredible volleyball match,” UCLA coach John Speraw said. “You saw so many significant swings.”
Hilir Henno had 22 kills and three blocks to lead the Anteaters (20-11). Nolan Flexen contributed 13 kills for UCI, which hit .303 as a team.
“He’s the greatest player I’ve ever played with,” Flexen said of Henno, who was named the AVCA National Player of the Year on Wednesday. “I’ve had the honor of learning from him. I’ve learned so much from this guy. He’s an incredible teammate, on and off the court.”
Irvine suffered a key loss early on as well.
Akhil Tangutur injured his knee after colliding with one of the posts during the first set and did not return.
“Got thrown a curveball early when Akhil went down,” UCI coach David Kniffin said. “I thought we responded well to that.”
The Bruins appeared rusty at the start, making errant passes on the first…
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