Bruins Add #21 to the Trophy Case
And the back-to-back streak continues!
The most successful program in Men’s Volleyball history added to their already ridiculous resume. For the 21st time in the 55-year history of the championship, the UCLA Bruins won the final match of the season and are national champions. As a reminder, second place is Pepperdine with five championships. Sure, UCLA was the unanimous pre-season favorite, but the strangest factor working in their favor was the fact that they won last year as well.
Going all the way back to the 2012 season, championships have exclusively come in pairs.
2012 & 2013 - UC Irvine
2014 & 2015 - Loyola Chicago
2016 & 2017 - Ohio State
2018 & 2019 - Long Beach
2020 - No Championship (Covid)
2021 & 2022 - Hawaii
2023 & 2024 - UCLA
This is an absolutely bizarre trend. If UCLA is dethroned next season, the trend will still be alive and well. We will just have to wait and see though.
Speaking of next season, UCLA will be a very different squad. Of the 7 graduating seniors, 4 were starters in the national championship match. Two of those, Ethan Champlin & Merrick McHenry, were three-time first-team All-Americans. To say that the Bruins will be losing a ton of skill and experience doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface. UCLA has a lot of figure out, but I don’t think it will take them that long to figure out their latest and greatest lineups. Let’s not forget their two-time first-team All-American Setter is only a Sophomore!
I also want to congratulate Long Beach on an incredible season. They will also be graduating an impressive senior class that helped cement Long Beach as an elite program in the nation for years to come. Long Beach still has the best record in the nation this season, in spite of losing yesterday. The end result may not have been what they wanted, but their season was still a resounding success by just about every metric.
Match Recaps
Non-conference
UCLA (44%) def. Long Beach (56%)
3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 27-29, 25-21)
What's Next
Now that the season is officially over, the VBelo Report is going to take a little break. The best-case scenario is you get some updates in your inbox with some numbers and off-season news. The worst-case is just huge news updates. Realistically, it will probably be somewhere in between.
I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has read, shared, liked, commented, emailed, and generally just supported collegiate volleyball this season. This is a labor of love and I am thrilled that there are people out there that have found some enjoyment in a sport that I (and so many others) love. Thank you so much and please don’t be a stranger. If you have ideas, send them my way.
An incredible season. Incredible content as next season will feature old faces in new places and a wide open run for the 2025 title in Columbus
You've earned a break, however you want it to look!
While I find recruiting/transfer coverage nauseating in other sports because it's so overdone, I'd be interested in your perspective on some of the key offseason moves when the time is right.