This Week — The fourth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team (13-3, 9-3) will host No. 15 Cal Baptist (3-9, 8-9) on Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m. The Bruins will then head across town to play at USC (3-9, 3-11) on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in the Galen Center. That match will be televised by Pac-12 Networks and SoCal BMW Crosstown Cup points will be up for grabs against the Trojans, who begin the week leading 55-35.
Live Coverage — Fans can follow the matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.
* Cal Baptist - Live stats at http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla; internet radio at http://www.uclabruins.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?type=live&db_oem_id=30500
*At USC -- live stats -- usctrojans.com ---television -- Pac-12 Networks --- internet radio http://www.uclabruins.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?type=live&db_oem_id=30500
In The Rankings — The Bruins are No. 4 in the AVCA national rankings this week. UCLA fell from the top spot following a Feb. 5 loss at Hawaii after being ranked No. 1 for three straight weeks. It was the first time the Bruins had held the top spot since being ranked first in the week 4 and 5 AVCA polls during the 2014 season after beginning that year by winning nine of the first 10 matches. CBU is No. 15 while USC received votes in this week's poll.
Scouting the Opponents — This is UCLA's second meeting with both the Lancers and the Trojans this season. In the first matchup, UCLA defeated Cal Baptist 27-25, 25-21, 25-12 in Riverside on Jan. 20. Oliver Martin (1.000) and Mitch Stahl (.500) led a balanced Bruin attack with seven kills each. The block stats were even at 4.0, but UCLA registered 11 aces to none for CBU. This past weekend, CBU lost two home matches to BYU (Fri.-25-19, 25-20, 25-22/ Sat.-25-20,25-18,25-19).
UCLA defeated USC 27-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19 in the first meeting of the season in Pauley on Jan. 23. Jake Arnitz totaled 14 kills (.480) to lead the Bruins. Micah Ma'a had 10 kills (.389), two aces, nine digs and six block assists. UCLA out hit USC .234 to .193 and won the block battle 15.0 to 7.5. The Bruins had 11 aces to 6 for the Trojans. Last week, USC split a pair of five-set matches against Hawai'i.
Recapping — UCLA dropped a four-set decision on Sunday at No. 4 Stanford. Scores of the contest were 21-25, 25-20, 22-25, 20-25. Jake Arnitz had 14 kills (.226), two aces and seven digs. JT Hatch added 12 kills (.250) and seven digs. Micah Ma'a finished with 11 kills (.308), two aces and seven digs. Oliver Martin put down a season-best 11 kills (.688). The Cardinal out hit the Bruins racking up an opponent high .400 swing percentage to UCLA's .320 for the match. The Cardinal hit at least .400 in each of the three sets it captured. Stanford won the block battle 9.0 to 7.0 and out aced the Bruins six to five.
The Bruins bested No. 9 Pepperdine on Friday night 32-30, 25-21, 25-19. Arnitz led the way for the Bruins with 16 kills, while hitting .556. Micah Ma'a had 11 kills (.389), and six digs for the Bruins who hit .312 for the match. Mitch Stahl totaled four block assists and a pair of aces. Hagen Smith had 20 set assists, an ace and three block assists. Hatch finished with six kills. Pepperdine hit just .145 for the contest.
The Bruins' 10-0 start was their best since the 1998 squad earned wins in the first 16 matches of that season. As far as conference streaks go, the Bruins also started out 6-0 in the 2014 season (7-0 in 2012 and 10-0 in 1998). 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).
Last Three Matches: Kills- Arnitz(41), Hatch (29), Ma'a(25); Aces-Arnitz(3), Hatch(3), Ma'a(3); Digs-Gillett(20), Smith(19), Ma'a(17); Block Assists-Stahl(9), Smith(8)....Note: The seven aces for Ma'a vs. CSUN is the most by an MPSF player this season.
NCAA Nat'l. Rankings - Mitch Stahl 5th in blocks (1.34/set); Micah Ma'a 4th in aces (0.56/s); Hit% Stahl 6th (.414); UCLA team 3rd Aces (1.82/s), 4th Blocks (2.65/s); 5th in Kills/s (13.08); 5th in set assists (12.31); 9th in hitting % (.307).
2016 Honors — Feb. 22 Micah Ma'a -Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Co-Freshman of the Week; Jan. 31 - Jake Arnitz, MPSF Player of the Week. Micah Ma'a Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Co-Freshmen of the Week; Jan. 11 Mitch Stahl - AVCA National POW and MPSF POW. Micah Ma'a Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. Co-Freshman of the Week.
Coach Speraw at UCLA: Year Four — John Speraw (UCLA '95), who is in his fourth 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 qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games. 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 only individual to produce a championship as a head coach, assistant coach and player in collegiate men's volleyball history. On Mar. 25, 2013, he was named head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team for the next quadrennial ending at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero. 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 quarterfinals of the London Olympics. Speraw won the National Coach of the Year award in 2007.
Elsewhere in MPSF: F24-USC at UCSB, Long Beach St. at Hawai'i; F25-Stanford at UCSD; F26-CSUN at BYU, Stanford at UCI, Cal Bapt. at UCSB, Long Beach at Hawaii; F27-CSUN at BYU, Pepp at UCI
MPSF Standings
Long Beach State 10-2 13-2
Stanford 10-2 12-2
BYU 8-2 12-2
UCLA 9-3 13-3
UCSB 7-5 11-6
CSUN 5-5 10-5
Hawaii 5-5 10-5
Pepperdine 5-5 6-5
Cal Bapt. 3-9 8-9
UC Irvine 3-9 4-10
USC 3-9 3-11
UCSD 0-12 4-13