Coming Up— The No. 4-ranked Bruins (9-3, 6-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action), remain on the road this week for a couple of league matches at No. 8 Stanford (6-4, 3-2) on Thursday at 6 p.m. and at No. 9 Pepperdine (4-3, 2-2) at 7 p.m. on Saturday. UCLA will return home on Feb. 15 to host No. 13 CSUN in Pauley at 7:30 p.m.
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA’s live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.
*Thu. at Stanford —Live TV: Pac-12 Network (Kevin Barnett, Don Shaw) and live stream http://pac-12.com/mens-volleyball/event/2017/02/09/ ucla-stanford; Live stats — http://www.sidearmstats.com/stanford/mvball/
*Sat. at Pepperdine—Live stream — http://www.wccsports.com/thew.tv and http://www.wccsports.com/game-center/584c4c69e4b0621d9f7 a18e6/ ; live stats — http://www.pepperdinewaves.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mvolley.html?event=1534006&school=pepp&sport=mvolley& camefrom=&startschool=& ; live internet radio (Darren Preston, Denny Cline) — http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/2016/8/16/live-audio.aspx
This Week’s NCAA Stats— To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 4 nationally in hitting percentage (.340)…No. 8 in blocks per set (2.44)…No. 6 in Aces per set (1.68) and No. 5 in Opponent Hitting % (.223) …It ranks 11th in both set assists (11.85) and 10th in kills/set (12.7) … Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah is 3rd in hitting % (.493) … Senior Mitch Stahl is 6th nationally in aces per set (0.56) and in blocks per set (1.13). Micah Ma’a had six aces at BYU, most by a player this season in a fi ve-set match … Senior Michael Fisher’s eight block assists vs. Princeton ties him for the most by a player this season in a three-set match.
By the Numbers – UCLA began the week leading the MPSF in team aces/set (1.67) and Oppt. Hitting % (.223) … Bruins own 2-3 record in road matches this season … Bruins have out blocked the opponent in each match but the away meeting with UCSB and the 2nd away match at BYU … UCLA has been even or out aced its opponents this season in all but the Ohio State and 2nd at BYU matches … The 0-3 loss at BYU on Saturday was the fi rst time the Bruins had been swept in a match since April 25, 2015 vs. UCI … 34 of the 49 aces in MPSF play this season have come from Mitch Stahl (17) and Micah Ma’a (17, 9 in last three matches)… Stahl has at least one ace in the last seven matches he has played in … UCLA has hit over .300 in all but the Ohio State, Princeton, 2nd at BYU matches this season … Hagen Smith totaled a career-best 12 kills in 1st match at BYU … Smith hit .384 on 39 swings in the matches at BYU and also has 24 digs over last 4 matches … Micah Ma’a has started all 43 career matches … JT Hatch has produced double-digit points in 5 of the last 7 matches … Stahl is second on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and moved up to fourth on the all-time career block assist list (rally scoring era 2001-present) at the school … Daenan Gyimah, leads the MPSF in hitting % this week with a .493 mark and has had multiple blocks in all but one match this season … Michael Fisher’s 8 block assists vs. Princeton ties for the most by a Div. I-II player this season … Jake Arnitz became the fi rst Bruin to hit the 20-kill mark this season with his performance against USC (20) … Jackson Bantle has 52 digs in last 6 matches (8.7 avg per match) … Oliver Martin increased his hitting percentage from .213 in 2015 to .447 in 2016 and is at 436 entering this week’s action and his block per set mark improved from 0.4 to 0.9 to 1.3 this season … Arnitz upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .355 in 2017 … Stahl improved his blocking aver- age from 0.9 in 2015 per set to 1.19 in 2016 and enters the week at 1.13 this 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 … Hatch had 11 matches with multiple aces last season … Hagen Smith had seven matches with nine or more digs … 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 fi rst 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… 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 — Stanford is coming off MPSF away losses to CSUN (0-3) and Long Beach State (0-3). The Cardinal had won its previous three matches over Pepperdine (3-1), USC (3-0) and Cal Baptist (3-0). Last season, the Bruins lost in four sets at Stanford.
Pepperdine, which hosts UCSB on Wednesday, is coming off of a loss at Long Beach State (0-3). The Waves had won the previous two matches over Cal Baptist (3-1) and USC (3-2). UCLA won 3-0 last season at Pepperdine.
Coach Speraw: Year Five at UCLA — John Speraw (UCLA ’95), who is in his fi fth 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 first 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 Last Week — Last Saturday, BYU swept the Bruins (25-13, 25-23, 31-29). Senior Hagen Smith led the Bruin attack with 10 kills and a .438 hitting percentage. BYU out hit the Bruins .420 to .198 for the contest and also won the blocking battle 6.5 to 1.0.
On Friday night, the Cougars dealt UCLA a fi ve set decision (28-26, 25-23, 13-25, 22-25, 18-16). Each team had a match point opportunity in the fi nal set. Sophomore Dylan Missry led a balanced attack of fi ve Bruin players in double-digit kills with a career-high 13. JT Hatch, Daenan Gyimah, Oliver Martin and Hagen Smith added 12 kills. UCLA out hit BYU .326 to .268, outaced them 6 to 4 and outblocked the Cougars 12.5 to 7.0.
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: Feb. 8-CSUN at UCSD, UCSB at Pepperdine; Feb. 10-BYU at USC, Hawai’i at UCSD, Long Beach at UCI; Feb. 11-Hawai’i at Cal Baptist, CSUN at UCI, Long Beach at UCSD, UCSB at Stanford; Feb. 14 – Hawai’i at McKendree; Feb. 15 – Long Beach at UCSB, Hawai’i at Lindenwood; Feb. 16 – Stanford at USC, Pepperdine at Cal Baptist; Feb. 17-UCSD at BYU, CSUN at UCSB; Feb. 18- UCSD at BYU, Pepperdine at USC, Stanford at Cal Baptist.
News courtesy of UCLA Athletics.
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