This Week— The top-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team (7-0, 4-0) plays three home matches this week in Pauley Pavilion. First up is a non-conference tilt against Princeton (0-3) on Monday night at 7 p.m. The Bruins then return to MPSF league play on Wednesday against #2 Long Beach State (6-1, 3-1) and on Friday against unbeaten CSUN (7-0, 2-0). Both of those matches will begin at 7 p.m.
Live Coverage— Fans can follow the matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB. Princeton - Live television: Pac-12 Networks with Anne Marie Anderson and Al Scates calling the action.
It is also available on internet radio --- http://www.uclabruins.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?type=live&db_oem_id=30500
Link for live stats --- http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
In The Rankings— The Bruins expect to be ranked No. 1 in the AVCA national rankings for the second straight week and the first time since being ranked first in two AVCA polls during the 2014 season. Princeton is unranked. Long Beach was ranked second and CSUN was ranked 12th. Last year, UCLA was ranked as high as #4 in the AVCA poll. The Bruins were last sitting atop the AVCA poll in weeks #4 and #5 of the 2014 season after beginning that year by winning nine of the first 10 matches.
Scouting the Opponents— Princeton has lost its three matches to start the season. The Tigers dropped a straight set decision to #6 Ohio State on Jan. 5 (25-17, 25-19, 25-20) and then lost two matches against Canadian collegiate team Laval (1-3 and 0-3).
Long Beach State is coming off a split this past weekend at home against BYU. BYU won the series opener on Friday night in four sets. The 49ers came back on Saturday to sweep the Cougars.
CSUN has opened its season with seven straight wins. The Matadors defeated Cal Lutheran in a non-league match last Wednesday.
Recapping— UCLA won its seventh straight match downing #15 USC in four sets on Saturday afternoon in Pauley Pavilion. Scores were 27-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19. Jake Arnitz led the way for the Bruins with a match-high 14 kills and hit .480. UCLA outblocked the Trojans 15.0 to 7.5 for the match with Oliver Martin responsible for a career-best seven block assists. Micah Ma'a finished with 10 kills, two aces, nine digs and six block assists. Mitch Stahl added two block solos and four block assists. Hagen Smith finished with an ace, eight digs and three block assists. The Bruins outhit USC .234 to .193 on the match and outserved the Trojans 11 aces to six. Ma'a has 11 aces in the last three matches.
The Bruins dealt Cal Baptist a 3-0 setback (27-25, 25-21, 25-12) last Wednesday despite being outhit .262 to .279. UCLA excelled at the service line out serving the Lancers 11-0. Oliver Martin and Mitch Stahl topped the UCLA attack at Cal Baptist with seven kills each.
This is the first time the team has started a season 7-0 since it also went 7-0 to open the 2005 season. The 2000 Bruins opened the year with victories in the first nine matches. The 1998 Bruins began with wins in their first 16 matches. UCLA, under the direction of coach Al Scates, owns the only three unbeaten seasons in the history of the men's game (1984: 38-0; 1982: 29-0; 1979: 30-0).
Elsewhere in MPSF: Jan. 26- Pepperdine at USC; Jan. 27-Princeton at UCSD, CSUN at UCSB; Jan. 29-BYU at UCI, Long Beach at UCSB, Stanford at Cal Bapt., UCSD at Hawaii; Jan. 30-BYU at UCI, Peppedine at Cal Bapt.; Jan. 31 - Stanford at USC, UCSD at Hawaii.