Coming Up— The fourth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team (18-3,13-3) steps out of the MPSF this week to host Concordia (10-3) on Friday night at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins have won five straight and seven of their last eight matches. UCLA is now 8-1 at home this season. The Bruins will take next week off for exams and return to action on Mar. 24 with a league match at CSUN. Concordia plays UCSD Thursday before heading to Westwood.
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.        
*Concordia -  Live Stats http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla --- 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. 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.    
Scouting the Opponent —  Concordia (an NAIA school transitioning to Div. II status) is 10-3 on the season and is coming off of a 1-3 setback against UC Santa Barbara on Wednesday night. On Feb. 25, the Eagles posted a 3-0 win over Grand Canyon. Also on tap this week is a match on Mar. 10 v. UCSD. In matches vs. teams on the Bruin schedule, the Eagles have lost to UCSB (1-3), Pepperdine (0-3) and Cal Baptist (0-3) and defeated Princeton (3-0).
Recapping  —  On Monday night, the Bruins defeated No. 10 Ball State 25-19, 25-19, 25-20 in Pauley. The Bruins hit .430 for the contest and held an opponent (.160) under .200 for the seventh time in eight matches. Oliver Martin led the way with nine kills, hitting .818, while adding a block solo and a pair of block assists.  Jake Arnitz posted a team-high 10 kills (.273). JT Hatch tallied nine kills (.353), an ace and six digs. Mitch Stahl recorded eight kills (.636), a block solo and an ace. Micah Ma'a had six kills (.500), an ace and 22 set assists. The Bruins hit .430 for the match to .160 for the Cardinals. The blocking stat was equal at 4.0 total blocks each. UCLA had six aces to one for BSU.
The Bruins defeated UCSB twice last week in MPSF action. On Friday night, the Bruins won at Santa Barbara 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-23 ). Jake Arnitz led UCLA with 12 kills (.364). UCLA had a 7-6 advantage in aces, a 9.5-6.0 edge in total blocks and in hitting percentage .247 to .083. Last Wednesday, UCLA rallied after dropping set one to defeat UCSB. Arnitz (.385) led three Bruins in double digit kills. Hatch (.207) and Ma'a (.550) each recorded 12 kills. UCLA hit .328 to .186 for the Gauchos.
The Bruins' 10-0 start this year 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 (35), Hatch(27), Ma'a (23); Aces-Hatch(4), Ma'a(4), Stahl (4); Digs-Gillett(28), Hatch (20), Ma'a (17); Block Assists-Stahl(11)....Notes: The seven aces for Ma'a vs. CSUN is the most by an MPSF player in a match this season ... Hatch has 14 aces in the last eight matches ... Bruin team had a streak of hitting over .300 in six straight matches snapped at UCSB (.247) last Friday ... Freshmen Davis Gillett and Micah Ma'a are tied for the team lead for sets played with 79 this season.            
NCAA Nat'l. Rankings - Mitch Stahl 6th in blocks (1.38/set); Micah Ma'a 5th in aces (0.54/s); Hit% Stahl 6th (.431); UCLA team 3rd Aces (1.89/s), 4th Blocks (2.65/s); 5th in Kills/s (13.01); 5th in set assists (12.29); 7th in hitting % (.310).
All-Time Bruin Lists— Micah Ma'a is 8th on school rally scoring era list for most aces in a season (42)-No. 7 is Matt Komer, 2002 (46)...Mitch Stahl is 9th on career block assist list (223)-No. 8 is Weston Dunlap, 2009-12 (248)...Stahl is 10th in career total blocks (238)-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: March 10-Cal Baptist at Pepperdine; UCSD at Concordia; March 11-UC Irvine vs. Ohio State (at Long Beach St.), Lewis at Long Beach, Hawaii at CSUN, March 12-Pepperdine at Stanford, UC Irvine vs. Lewis (at Long Beach State), Hawaii at CSUN, Ohio State at Long Beach State

MPSF Standings (3/10)
Stanford              13-2     15-2
Long Beach St    12-2     17-2
BYU                    12-2      16-2
UCLA                  13-3     18-3
UCSB                   9-7      14-8
Pepperdine          7-6       8-6
CSUN                   5-7      12-7
Hawai'i                 5-9     10-9
UCI                       5-11     6-12
Cal Baptist           4-12    9-12
USC                     4-12     4-14
UCSD                   0-16     4-17