UCLA men’s volleyball hosted Stanford for the second consecutive night at Pauley Pavilion on March 7, 2025. UCLA won in three straight sets 25-22, 25-22, 25-22. On paper, it looked like a routine sweep by the Bruins, but there were a few wrinkles. Before the match, I was told that Andrew Rowan was still sick and would not play, but was in the building. He was in uniform, but did not participate in the warmups, staying in sweats on the bench. Miles Partain, the USA beach Olympian and AVP pro who is waiting for NCAA eligibility approval to officially rejoin the UCLA men’s team, participated in warmups and set the hitting lines along with Trent Taliaferro. Partain still cannot play in matches.

Taliaferro started in place of Rowan. Both teams looked sloppy with lots of hitting errors, missed serves and out of system offenses due to poor passing or errant digs. UCLA took the opening set but came out slowly in set 2. They were down 8-13 after several missed attacks and poor connections with the middle hitters. UCLA climbed back to tie the score at 14. However, Stanford responded with a 3 point run prompting a UCLA timeout at 16-19. Surprisingly, coach Hawks subbed in Rowan for Taliaferro after the time out. In spite of Rowan not having touched a ball all night, he caused a spark that led to a 7-1 run with a more efficient offense and three consecutive aces by Zach Rama to give UCLA the lead. They finished the second set on a Thorne, Rowan and Robinson stuff block. Rowan stayed in at setter for the third set and the Bruins looked better as they closed out the win over Sanford to complete the two night match sweep.