Coming Up— The No. 2-ranked Bruins (6-1, 4-0 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action) will host No. 11-ranked UC Santa Barbara (6-1, 3-1) on Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. in a match to be televised by the Pac-12 Networks. The two teams will then head to Santa Barbara for a match on Friday night in the Thunderdome at 7 p.m. The Bruins will close out the week with a non-league contest against Princeton on Sunday at 8 p.m. in Pauley.
Last week, UCLA topped USC in four sets (25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22) and bested Cal Baptist in straight sets (25-21, 25-17, 25-22).
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA’s live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.
*UCSB (home) —Live TV Pac-12 Networks (Anne Marie Anderson and Al Scates on the call); Live stats — http://www.statbroadcast. com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla; Live internet radio (Darren Preston & Denny Cline) – http://www.uclabruins.com/ sports/2016/8/16/live-audio.aspx
*UCSB (away) —Live stats — http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-volley/2016-17/boxscores/20170127_qz9m.xml
This Week’s NCAA Stats— To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 2 nationally in hitting percentage (.363)…No. 2 in blocks per set (2.67)… No. 8 in Aces per set (1.83) and Opponent Hitting % (.193) …Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah is 3rd in hitting % (.563) and tied for 18th in blocks per set (1.00) … Senior Mitch Stahl is 6th nationally in blocks per set (1.22).
By the Numbers – UCLA leads the MPSF in team blocks (2.67) and Oppt. Hitting % (.193) … Bruins have outblocked opponent in each match this season… UCLA has been even or out aced its opponents in all but Ohio State match … The Bruins registered 28 of its season total of 42 aces in the four MPSF matches, 17 coming from Mitch Stahl (9) and Micah Ma’a (8)…UCLA has hit over .300 in all but the Ohio State match this season …Micah Ma’a has started all 39 career matches …Mitch Stahl is fourth on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and moved up to tie for fourth on the all-time career block assist list (rally scoring era 2001-present) at the school vs. Cal Baptist … Daenan Gyimah has a 41 kill, 4 error, 64 attacks stat line (.578) from last fi ve matches vs. Ohio State, UC Irvine, UCSD, Cal Baptist and USC … Jake Arnitz became the first Bruin to hit the 20-kill this season with his performance against USC… Arnitz upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .367 in 2017 … Stahl improved his blocking average from 0.9 in 2015 per set to 1.19 in 2016 and his hitting % from .365 to .471 last season … Ma’a had at least one ace in 27 of the 32 total matches last season; he had seven matches with more than a pair of aces … In the process, he destroyed the old freshman ace record of Gonzalo Quiroga (39 in 2011) with 58 … JT Hatch had 11 matches with multiple aces last season — he had 13 aces in 2015 and finished with 39 in 2016 … Hagen Smith had seven matches with nine or more digs and 12 matches with at least five kills in 2016 … Jackson Bantle had 16 service aces last season … Ma’a had an MPSF high 7 aces in match versus CSUN on Jan. 29, 2016 … His triple-double v. BYU (4/2/16) was the first by an MPSF player since Jonah Seif of UCSB on Feb. 6, 2014…The last time UCLA won more than 25 matches was when it captured 26 in 2006 on the way to an NCAA title…Oliver Martin increased his hitting percentage from .213 in 2015 to .447 in 2016 and his block per set mark from 0.4 to 0.9 … A year ago, the Bruins participated in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since it captured the program’s 19th title in 2006 (playing Ohio State in the 2016 semifi nals).
Honors — Micah Ma’a was named the Sports Imports / AVCA Div. I-II Men’s Volleyball National Player of the Week on Jan. 17 for his play in wins over UC I (8 kills, .800, 17 set ast., 3 aces, 7 digs, 1 blk) and UCSD (3 kills, .333, 21 set ast., 3 aces, 6 digs, 2 blk) … Daenan Gyimah was named the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week for his play vs. UCI (14 kills, .737, 2 blk) and UCSD (2 kills, .500, 4 blks) … 2017 Watch Listees: Karch Kiraly Award (best outside attacker) JT Hatch, Jake Arnitz/ Erik Shoji Award (best libero) Davis Gillett / Ryan Millar Award (best middle attacker) Mitch Stahl / Lloy Ball Award (best setter) Micah Ma’a…Three Bruins were named to the 2016 AVCA All-America squad – 1st team Micah Ma’a; 2nd team Mitch Stahl, Jake Arnitz. Earning 1st team All-MPSF honors were Ma’a and Arnitz; 2nd team was Stahl; Honorable Mention went to JT Hatch and Hagen Smith. Arnitz was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. Ma’a was named Off the Block’s Server of the Year and a Freshman All-American.
Scouting the Opponent — UCSB has won three matches in a row and last week posted wins over Cal Baptist (3-0) and USC (3-2, 15-10 inthe fifth set) … The Gauchos’ lone loss came in fi ve sets at the hands of UC Irvine.
Coach Speraw: Year Five at UCLA — John Speraw (UCLA ’95), who is in his fifth season as the head coach at his alma mater, has captured three NCAA titles as a head coach (2012, 2009, 2007 at UCI), three as an assistant coach (1996, 1998, 2000 at UCLA) and two as a player (1993, 1995 at UCLA). Also the head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Volleyball Team, Speraw led that squad to the 2015 FIVB World Cup and automatic qualifi cation for the 2016 Olympic Games where his squad took home the Bronze medal. Speraw came back to UCLA after 10 seasons at UC Irvine where he led the Anteaters to three NCAA championships, and a 199-106 (.646) overall record. In winning that 2007 title, Speraw became the fi rst individual to produce a championship as a head coach, assistant coach and player in collegiate men’s volleyball history. He was named head coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team on Mar. 25, 2013. In the summer of 2014, he guided the U.S. team to a win over top-ranked Brazil in the FIVB World League gold-medal match. In the summer of 2012, he had served as an assistant coach for the National Team, which advanced to the quarterfi nals of the London Olympics. He was also an assistant on the gold medal winning U.S. squad in the 2008 Beijing Games. Speraw won the National Coach of the Year award in 2007.
Recapping the Last Three — Last Friday night, UCLA defeated USC 25-20, 23-25, 25-20, 25-22 before over 2,000 fans. Jake Arnitz became the fi rst Bruin of the season to crack the 20-kill mark and led the attack with 20 kills and a .450 hitting percentage. Arnitz’ 20 kill, one shy of his career high, set in a match last season against CSUN. He added four blocks and a season-best six digs. Daenan Gyiman had 10 kills (.444) and three blocks. Stahl, who had three aces, registered eight block assists and moved past Nick Vogel into sole possession of fourth place on the all-time UCLA block assist list (rally scoring era 2001-present) during the contest. He also moved past Jamie Difenbach into seventh place on the all-time school list for total blocks (now with 290). Jackson Bantle totaled 14 digs, one off of his career-best total. Hagen Smith had 24 set assists and seven digs. UCLA hit .309 for the match to .208 for the Trojans. UCLA out blocked USC 13.0 to 7.0.
Last Wednesday, the Bruins dealt Cal Baptist a straight set defeat 25-21, 25-17, 25-22. UCLA was led by the 13-kill eff ort of JT Hatch (.579). Daenan Gyimah finished with 10 kills (.750) and a couple of blocks. Hagen Smith added three kills, 15 set assists and a block. Jackson Bantle topped the team with six digs. Micah Ma’a totaled 20 set assists and a couple of aces. Jake Arnitz had six kills and a couple of aces. UCLA out hit the Lancers .391 to .234 for the match and won the blocking battle 6.0 to 5.0.
UCLA swept UCSD 25-15, 25-13, 25-17. The Bruins hit .557 for the match and registered nine aces on the night, a school record-tying seven coming in the second set. Mitch Stahl and Ma’a led the way from the service line with four and three aces, respectively. Arnitz and Hatch tied for match-high kill honors with nine each.
Signees for 2018 — The Bruins inked 6-6 outside/opposite hitter Colin Bailey from Torrey Pines HS, 6-9 middle blocker Grant Maleski, from Stevenson High in Lincolnshire, Ill., 6-9 middle blocker Ian Parish from Loyola HS, 6-4 setter Adam Parks and 6-3 outside hitter Alex Parks from Oak Park, Calif. HS in the November 2016 signing period.
Elsewhere in MPSF: Jan. 25-Cal Baptist at Pepperdine; Jan. 26-Cal Lutheran at CSUN, USC at Stanford; Jan. 27-Hope International at CSUN, UCI at BYU, Cal Baptist at Stanford, Long Beach v. St. Francis, Grand View at Hawai’i; Jan. 28 – Hope International at UCSD, USC at Pepperdine, UCI at BYU, Long Beach at Ohio State, Grand View at Hawai’i; Jan. 29-Grand View at Hawai’i.
News courtesy of UCLA Athletics.
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