#2 UCLA Men’s Team Faces #1 Ohio State In First Week Of Play

The UCLA men’s volleyball team will start the 2017 season in the #2 slot, set to face #1 Ohio State in their first week of play.

The Bruins begin MPSF conference play with UC Irvine on January 12 at 7:30 PM at home.

In their last season, the Bruins went 25-7 and 17-5 in MPSF play. In the MPSF Tournament, UCLA made it to the championship match, set to face BYU. The Bruins couldn’t handle the BYU pressure, dropping the match and the conference championship. They made it to the NCAA National Tournament in 2016, dropping their first match to the eventual National Champions Ohio State in a five set battle.

The Bruins return all six starters for the 2017 season and did not lose any players from last season as the team had no seniors.

Top Returners

Jake Armitz, junior

• Outside Hitter
• 2016 season awards
  • AVCA All-America Second Team, All-MPSF First Team, MPSF All-Tournament Team
• Recorded 358 kills and a .313 hitting percentage

JT Hatch, junior

• Outside Hitter
• 2016 season awards
  • All-MPSF Honorable Mention
• Put down 276 kills, also picking up 161 digs

Micah Ma’a, sophomore

• Setter/Hitter
• 2016 season awards
  • Named Off The Block’s Server of the Year, AVCA All-America First Team, All-MPSF First Team, All-MPSF Tournament Team, Off The Block Freshman All-America
• Recorded 256 kills on a .310 hitting percentage
• Added 725 assists, 192 digs and 58 service aces

Mitch Stahl, senior

• Middle Blocker
• 2016 season awards
  • AVCA All-America second team, All-MPSF second team
• Put down 193 kills and a .471 hitting percentage (third highest in school history)
• Defensively blocked 124 balls for 1.19 blocks per set

Davis Gillett, sophomore

• Libero
• Picked up a team-best 245 digs on the season

Newcomers

Sam Kobrine, freshman

• Outside Hitter
• Earned Volleyball Magazine High School All-America honors as a senior
• Played club for 949 Volleyball Club

Sam Jones, freshman

• Libero
• Named to Volleyball Magazine Fab 50, Daily Breeze All-Area Boys Volleyball second team
• Played club for Southern California Volleyball Club