Michigan State University
18-12,8-12Big Ten
UCLA
18-12,12-8Big Ten
Spartans Drop Five-Set Battle with UCLA
11/28/2025 4:42:00 PM | Volleyball
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Michigan State volleyball dropped a back-and-forth five-setter to UCLA (25-17, 14-25, 23-25, 25-18, 15-9) Friday afternoon inside the Breslin Center.Â
MSU concludes the season at 18-12 overall, its most wins in a season since 2017, and 8-12 in the Big Ten. UCLA moves to 18-12 and 12-8 in the B1G with the win.Â
The Spartans out-hit the Bruins, .233 to .209, and led in kills (63-53) and service aces (8-4). UCLA held a 66-58 advantage in digs and 13-10 lead in total blocks.Â
Four Spartans posted double-digit kills Friday afternoon, with freshman Bianca Mumcular adding a team-high 17, junior Karolina Staniszewska posting 15 to eclipse 500 career kills and junior middle blocker Zuzanna Kulig and junior outside hitter Taylah Holdem each tallying 12. Kulig's 12 kills came in an efficient 17 attempts, as she hit a team-best clip of .588. She also posted a team-high four blocks alongside Mumcular.Â
Junior libero Lia Schneider added a team-leading 16 digs and Holdem posted 12 for her second double-double of the season. Redshirt freshman Malayah Long also recorded a double-double, her ninth of the season, with 44 assists and 11 digs.Â
Five different MSU players provided at least one service ace, with Schneider, Long and Mumcular each adding a pair, while Danyle Courtley and Kulig each tallied one.Â
UCLA got out to a 4-1 lead in the first before the Spartans fired off an 8-0 run with kills from Holdem, Mumcular and Kulig and blocks from Long and Kulig and a Mumcular service ace to take a 9-4 lead and force a Bruin timeout. The Spartans extended their lead to six out of the timeout with Holdem and Mumcular kills and a solo Staniszewska block before UCLA closed the gap to three at 15-12, but a 6-2 MSU run capped off by a Mumcular kill forced a second Bruin timeout at a 21-15, six-point Spartan lead. The Bruins put down a kill out of the timeout to close the gap to five before three-straight MSU points from a Holdem kill, Courtley service ace and Bruin attack error got the Spartans to set point at 24-17. UCLA fought off the point with a kill, but a Bruin service error to follow gave MSU the first set, 25-17.Â
The Spartans tied the second set at 7-7 after UCLA got out to a 7-4 start with a pair of kills from Staniszewska and a dump from Long. The Bruins responded with three-straight points of their own to bring their lead back to three and maintained their three-point lead at the media timeout, 15-12. The Spartans called a timeout after two more Bruin points extended the UCLA lead five at 17-12 and were forced into a second timeout at a 22-12 UCLA lead. Courtley put down a pair of kills to close the gap, but UCLA finished the set off with a kill to take the second, 25-14.Â
MSU took a one-point lead at 8-7 in the third set with a 4-0 run from Kulig, Holdem and Hood kills and a Kulig service ace. UCLA used a 4-0 run of its own to take back a three-point lead and force an MSU timeout at 11-8. A Staniszewska kill and Long service ace out of the timeout brought the Spartans within one at 11-10 before UCLA responded with a 5-1 run to make it 16-12, but a Mumcular kill, Schneider service ace and UCLA attack error got the Spartans back within two at 16-14 to force a Bruin timeout. UCLA fired off four-straight points out of the timeout to force an MSU timeout at 19-14, but a 5-2 MSU run got the Spartans back within a pair at 21-19. An MSU service error and Bruin kill got UCLA to set point at 24-21 before a UCLA attack error and block from Kulig and Mumcular cut the UCLA lead to a point at 24-21 to force a timeout. A UCLA block out of the timeout stopped the MSU run to give UCLA the third set, 25-23.Â
Neither team was able to take more than a two-point lead in the fourth set until a 4-0 MSU run, capped off by a Long service ace, gave the Spartans a three-point advantage at 10-7. The Spartans continued to maintain their three-point advantage, taking a 15-12 lead into the media timeout after a Kulig kill. UCLA cut the lead to two with a pair of kills, but a Staniszewska kill followed by a Staniszewska solo block extended the MSU lead back to four to force a UCLA timeout at 18-14. A pair of UCLA attack errors and a Mumcular kill out of the timeout gave MSU a 21-14 lead before a 3-1 Bruin run forced a Spartan timeout at 22-17, but a 3-0 run by the Spartans with a Mumcular and Hood block, Holdem kill and UCLA attack helped MSU take the fourth set, 25-18. Â
MSU took a 7-5 lead to start the final set, but a 3-0 Bruin gave UCLA an 8-7 lead before the teams switched sides. Mumcular cut the UCLA lead to a point with a kill, but the Bruins responded with back-to-back points to force an MSU timeout at 11-8. UCLA closed the set with four unanswered point to take the fifth, 15-9.Â
