This Week — The fourth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team (15-3, 11-3) squares off twice this week against No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (13-6, 9-5). The first match up will played be at UCLA on Wednesday night in the Wooden Center at 7 p.m. On Friday, the Bruins will travel to play at UCSB (7 pm) where the Gauchos are 8-1 this year. The lone loss coming to top-ranked Long Beach State.
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.
*UCSB -- live stream -- http://pac-12.com/live/ucla --- internet radio - http://www.uclabruins.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?type=live&db_oem_id=30500 --- live stats --- http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
*At UCSB - live stats http://ucsbgauchos.com/sports/m-volley/2015-16/boxscores/20160304_hthy.xml --- video stream --- http://portal.stretchinternet.com/ucsb/ --- 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. UCSB is ranked No. 9 in this week's AVCA poll.
Scouting the Opponent — This is UCLA's first meeting with the Gauchos this season. Last season, UCLA lost both matches to UCSB - at home (0-3 /20-25, 21-25, 24-26) in February and at UCSB (1-3 /14-25, 25-22, 16-25, 20-25) in March. In action last week, UCSB swept a pair of matches played against USC and Cal Baptist and has won five of its last six matches with the only setback coming in a match at Stanford (0-3).
Recapping — At USC last Saturday, JT Hatch led the Bruins with 13 kills (.357) and tallied a career-best four service aces. Jake Arnitz finished with 10 kills. Hagen Smith had seven kills (.875) and tied his career-best with three aces. Micah Ma'a had his 38th service ace of the season to tie David Russell (2006) for ninth on the school single season list. UCLA hit .386 for the match to .187 for USC. Oliver Martin hit .750 on eight swings and Mitch Stahl hit .727 on 11 swings.
The Bruins swept No. 15 Cal Baptist last Wednesday night in Pauley (25-18,25-19, 25-13). Arnitz (.278) and Hatch (.350) led the way with nine kills each. Hatch added three aces to lift UCLA to a 9-1 edge in that category. Stahl totaled a block solo and six block assists as the Bruins had 12.5 total blocks to 7.0 for CBU. Ma'a recorded two aces, seven digs and five block assists. Davis Gillett added nine digs. UCLA hit .333 as a team and CBU hit a Bruin opponent season-low .066 for the match.
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-Hatch(34), Arnitz (33), Ma'a(24); Aces-Hatch(7), Ma'a(5), Smith(4); Digs-Ma'a (23), Gillett(18), Arnitz(18); Block Assists-Stahl(12), Ma'a(7), Smith (7)....Note: The seven aces for Ma'a vs. CSUN is the most by an MPSF player in a match this season.
NCAA Nat'l. Rankings - Mitch Stahl 4th in blocks (1.35/set); Micah Ma'a 6th in aces (0.55/s); Hit% Stahl 4th (.428); UCLA team 3rd Aces (1.91/s), 4th Blocks (2.64/s); 5th in Kills/s (13.03); 5th in set assists (12.32); 8th in hitting % (.312).
All-Time Bruin Lists— Micah Ma'a is T-8th with David Russell, 2006 on school list for most aces in a season (38)-No. 7 is Matt Komer, 2002 (46)...Mitch Stahl is 9th on career block assist list (212)-No. 8 is Weston Dunlap, 2009-12 (248)...Stahl is 10th in career total blocks (226)-No. 9 is Garrett Muagututia, 2007-10 (248).
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: Year Four at UCLA — 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: M2-Pepperdine at UCSD, BYU at Hawai'i; M3-USC at Cal Baptist; M4-Long Beach State v. Mount Olive, UCSD at UC Irvine, BYU at Hawai'i, CSUN at Penn State; M5-CSUN v. Mount Olive, Cal Baptist at USC, UC Irvine at UCSD, Long Beach State at Penn State
MPSF Standings
Long Beach State 12-2 15-2
Stanford 12-2 14-2
BYU 10-2 14-2
UCLA 11-3 15-3
UCSB 9-5 13-6
Pepperdine 6-5 7-5
CSUN 5-7 10-7
Hawai'i 5-7 10-7
Cal Baptist 3-11 8-11
UC Irvine 3-11 4-12
USC 3-11 3-13
UCSD 0-13 4-14