UCLA Moves Ahead in Another Volleyball Title Quest

PALO ALTO — Jeff Nygaard made 25 kills and Tim Kelly had 12 without making a hitting error as UCLA stayed on track to defend its NCAA championship in men’s volleyball with a 15-5, 15-4, 15-7 sweep over second-ranked Stanford in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship match Saturday night in Maples Pavilion.

The top-ranked Bruins, who earned an automatic berth in the NCAA Final Four on May 6-7 in Ft. Wayne, Ind., have won 26 consecutive matches since losing their opener to Brigham Young.

Stanford (18-9) drops into the MPSF tournament semifinals against Pepperdine at 8 p.m. Monday. The tournament winner probably also will receive an invitation to the NCAA finals.

Pepperdine (14-8) advanced by upsetting sixth-ranked Cal State Northridge, 15-8, 15-8, 16-14. Brigham Young (20-5) and USC (17-6) will meet in Monday’s other semifinal.

Third-ranked Brigham Young downed Hawaii, 12-15, 15-10, 15-7, 15-5, in first-round action. Fourth-ranked USC swept San Diego State, 15-2, 15-6, 15- 3.

Led by Jason Mulholland and Chris Underwood, the Trojans hit at a .466 clip against the Aztecs. Mulholland had a match-high 20 kills and seven digs. Underwood had 19 kills.

In the match for the federation’s regular-season championship, UCLA trailed only once, 5-1, in the third game. The Bruins have won an NCAA-record 14 national championships.