Follow
Pin-hitter Zach Rama walking off the court during a timeout late in the third game threw his hands up in excitement.
It was a display of emotion from an all-conference player who throughout his career has displayed poise on the court. There were plenty of reasons, though, for that level of excitement.
Rama had both a match-high three aces and 13 kills on a .476 attack percentage as the No. 3 seed UCLA swept the No. 6 seed Belmont Abbey 25-18, 25-21, 25-19 in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.
Rama led all players with seven kills in the final game against the ConfCarolinas champions, including four kills late in the game. The pin-hitter also had an ace midway through the third game to help the Bruins rally from a deficit.
Setter Andrew Rowan in the victory guided the UCLA offense to out-hit Belmont Abbey .455 to .184. In addition, the Bruins had three players with double-digit kills and more than a .400 attack percentage.
Along with Rama, freshman outside attacker Sean Kelly had 11 kills on a .455 attack percentage. Kelly also did not commit an attack error in the final two games.
Opposite Cooper Robinson contributed 11 kills and hit .529.
Belmont Abbey outside attacker Caden Day in the loss had a team-high 11 kills. Ryan Charles added seven kills and had a team-best .455 attack percentage against the Bruins.
UCLA out-blocked Belmont Abbey 13 to 3 highlighted with middle attacker Cameron Thorne having a match-high six blocks.
The Crusaders after being limited to less than .125 attack percentage in each of the first two games hit .417 in the final game.
Belmont Abbey led by as many as three points midway through the third game before UCLA rallied to take a 17-16 lead. The Bruins would not relinquish the lead en route to securing the sweep.
UCLA committed a match-low two attack errors and hit .412 in its second-game victory.
The Crusaders late in that game came within a point of the Bruins after having on back-to-back plays an ace from Charles and a block from Jibriel Elhaddad and Joseph Morris. UCLA rebounded to extend its lead, and Rama had a game-winning ace to give the Bruins a two-game lead.
This was the first time in the program’s first eight NCAA Tournament sets that Belmont Abbey scored at least 20 points.
Morris and Elhaddad in the opening game had a block to cut the deficit to 9-8. The Bruins, though, following that block went on an 8-2 run that featured back-to-back kills from Kelly.
Kelly also had an ace as part of a 5-1 run to close out the game.
The Bruins remain undefeated all-time against ConfCarolinas schools. It also extends its streak of having never lost in the NCAA Tournament opening round since the NCAA moved to a single-elimination tournament format in 1974.
UCLA with this victory will advance to play the winner of the semifinal match between the No. 2 seed Hawai’i and the No. 7 seed Penn State.
The Bruins are attempting to become the first team in more than 30 years to win three consecutive NCAA championships.