#13 Bruins at California, #9 Stanford

Thursday, November 10

Berkeley, Calif.

8:00 PM

UCLA

California

Freshman Kylie Miller has nine service aces this season.

#13 Bruins at California, #9 Stanford

November 09, 2016 | Women's Volleyball

Match Notes

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Thursday, Nov. 10
#13 UCLA at California
8 p.m.
Haas Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Los Angeles and Bay Area
Live Stats

Saturday, Nov. 12
#13 UCLA at #9 Stanford
7 p.m.
Maples Pavilion
Live Video
Live Stats

#13 UCLA CONCLUDES ROAD TRIP AT CAL, #9 STANFORD
The 13th-ranked Bruins wrap up a four-match road swing at California on Thursday at 8 p.m. and #9 Stanford on Saturday at 7 p.m. The UCLA-Cal matchup will be televised on Pac-12 Los Angeles, while the UCLA-Stanford contest will have a live video stream on UCLABruins.com.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Bruins host Oregon State at Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 8 p.m. in a match which will air on Pac-12 Los Angeles. UCLA then entertains #16 Oregon at the John Wooden Center on Friday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. Live audio will be available for both matches at UCLABruins.com.

BRUINS IN THE POLLS
The Bruins fell four spots to 13th in this week's AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. Seven UCLA opponents are in the Top 25 (#7 San Diego, #9 Stanford, #11 Washington, #14 Hawai'i, #16 Oregon, #19 Utah and #25 Arizona), while USC (#28), Washington State (#29), Colorado (#31) and Missouri State (#33) are all receiving votes.

FORMICO NAMED PAC-12 DPOW FOR SECOND TIME
For the second time in three weeks, senior Taylor Formico was named Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week, as announced on Oct. 31.
Formico posted 27 digs against Colorado to move into third on UCLA's all-time list, also tallying six assists and two service aces. A night later, Formico tallied the second double-double of her Bruin career with 20 digs and a personal-best 11 assists against Utah, adding a dump-kill.
It is the second DPOW for Formico, who also earned the award on Oct. 17, the same day when freshman Torrey Van Winden picked up Offensive POW accolades. Van Winden was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Oct. 24, while senior Jennie Frager was named OPOW on Aug. 29, giving the Bruins five Pac-12 weekly honors this season. Since 2011, when the conference started handing out Offensive, Defensive and Freshman of the Week honors, UCLA has won 11 Offensive, seven Defensive and five Freshman awards (23 total). The Bruins have 84 all-time Pac-12 weekly awards.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Junior Reily Buechler surpassed the 1,000-kill mark with her first kill of the third set last Saturday at Arizona State, becoming the 28th Bruin to reach that plateau. She has 1,003 for her career ... senior Taylor Formico moved into third place on UCLA's all-time digs list against Colorado on Oct. 28 and now has 1,486 for her Bruin career. She trails only Chrissie Zartman (2,064) and Lainey Gera (2,009). Formico's overall career total is now at 2,278 (792 at UCSB in 2012) ... senior Jordan Anderson's 3.93 kills per set would rank her seventh in Bruin history ... senior Claire Felix's .336 hitting percentage currently ranks sixth in school history.

TEAM NOTES
UCLA started its season at 7-0, its best start since 2006 when it began with 20 consecutive victories. The previous two times the Bruins opened a year with at least six straight wins, they have reached the third weekend of the NCAA Tournament (2006 - National Semifinals; 2011 - National Champions) ... Oct. 9 against Arizona marked the only time this season that the Bruins lost when holding their opponent under a .200 hitting percentage (14-1 record) ... the Arizona loss was also the only time the Bruins were defeated when winning the hitting battle (19-1) ... UCLA is 12-0 when either leading or tying its opponent in blocks ... the Bruins are 18-1 when winning the third set, but 1-4 when losing the stanza after intermission. However, they broke a three-match slide with their five-set victory against Colorado on Oct. 28.

PLAYER NOTES
Senior Jordan Anderson has double figures in kills in 19 of her last 22, posting a season-best 18 versus Colorado on Oct. 28. She is averaging 3.67 kills per set over the last six contests. Anderson also has at least one block solo in four of her last six, including a career-high three against California (Oct. 23) ... along with recording the 1,000th kill of her career at Arizona State last Saturday, junior Reily Buechler posted her fourth-straight, double-figure kills match to give her 15 on the year. She is averaging 3.79 kills per set over her last four. Buechler is tied for the team lead with 16 aces, posting a career-best three at ASU ... freshman Torrey Van Winden had her seven-match streak with double figures in kills snapped last week, but extended her stretch with at least 10 digs to four with a pair of 14-dig contests. She has three double-doubles this season, including against Colorado (Oct. 28) when she had 13 kills and a career-best 16 digs. Van Winden has hit over .300 in seven of her last nine matches ... freshman Kylie Miller notched the fourth double-double of her career with 27 assists and 11 digs against Colorado. Her season high in assists came versus Washington State (Sept. 23) when she had 35, while her best in digs was at Colorado (13) on Oct. 2. Miller also has nine aces, including two against Arizona (Oct. 9) and ASU (Nov. 5) ... sophomore Zana Muno had double figures in digs in seven in a row from Oct. 9-29, averaging 3.34 dps during that span. She set a new season best with 23 digs at Oregon (Oct. 12) ... senior Claire Felix went two matches in a row against California (9-for-18) on Oct. 23 and Colorado (6-for-15) on Oct. 28 without a hitting error, posting a .455 hitting percentage in those two contests. Seven times this season, she has posted at least four kills and no miscues in a match. Felix has four double-figure kills matches, including 16 against LBSU and WSU, as well as nine contests with at least four blocks ... senior Jennie Frager recorded a career-best 16 kills against Colorado, her 11th match this season with double figures in kills. She posted just one hitting error in 29 attempts for a .517 percentage after hitting .526 in the previous contest against Cal. Defensively, Frager has at least four blocks on 16 occasions ... senior Taylor Formico, now two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, has at least 20 digs in 11 contests to go with double figures in digs in all 24 matches this season, 46 in a row dating back to last year and 112 in her career. Formico hasn't just been chipping in defensively though. She recorded her second double-double with 20 digs and a career-best 11 assists against Utah. Formico also posted her sixth kill of the season versus the Utes ... junior Ryann Chandler posted her team-best ninth double-double at Arizona with 14 assists and 14 digs. She has at least six digs in four in a row. Chandler has also been serving tough lately, tallying six aces in her last six matches, including a career-best three versus Stanford (Oct. 21).

BRUINS IN THE NATIONAL AND PAC-12 RANKINGS
Through matches of Nov. 6, UCLA ranks fourth in the nation in digs per set (18.29), fifth in assists per set (13.63) and eighth in kills per set (14.44), also coming in at 39th in opponent hitting percentage (.170). Individually, senior Taylor Formico is 22nd in dps (5.11), while senior Jennie Frager is 40th in hitting (.368). Among Pac-12 teams, the Bruins are first in aps, kps and dps and second in opponent hitting. Formico is first among Pac-12 players in dps, while Frager is third in hitting and eighth in blocks per set (1.16). Junior Ryann Chandler is fifth in aps (8.06), senior Claire Felix is sixth in hitting (.345) and senior Jordan Anderson is eighth in kps (3.32).

SCOUTING THE CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS
California (9-15, 3-11 Pac-12) was swept in both road matches last week at #19 Utah and Colorado, but won its most recent home contest, a sweep of then-#18 Washington State on Oct. 29. The Golden Bears are hitting .205 as a team, averaging 13.44 kills, 0.70 aces, 13.99 digs and 1.83 blocks per set. Four players are posting at least 2.00 kps, led by junior Christine Alftin's 2.86. Senior Alyssa Jensen handles the setting duties and is averaging 10.47 assists per set. Senior Maddy Kerr is tops with 3.99 dps, while senior Jenelle Jordan is first with 1.03 bps.

THE MATCHUP: BRUINS VS. GOLDEN BEARS
UCLA and California just recently met on Oct. 23 at the John Wooden Center, with the Bruins posting a four-set win. UCLA hit a season-best .383, as Jordan Anderson had 15 kills, Jennie Frager added 13 kills and six blocks and Taylor Formico notched 14 digs. The Bruins lead the all-time series 60-8 and have won four in a row. UCLA is 26-4 in Berkeley.

SCOUTING THE STANFORD CARDINAL
Stanford (16-6, 10-4 Pac-12), which hosts USC on Thursday, is the hottest team in the conference, having won five in a row to move into a tie for the league lead. The Cardinal are hitting .264 as a team, averaging 14.01 kills, 1.04 aces, 14.41 digs and 3.35 blocks per set. Freshman Kathryn Plummer is tops on the team with 3.08 kps, senior Inky Ajanaku is second with 2.69 kps and first with 1.52 bps and freshman Audriana Fitzmorris is third (2.49 kps). Freshman Jenna Gray (7.52 assists per set) and senior Kelsey Humphreys (4.22) split the setting duties. Freshman Morgan Hentz is tops with 4.59 dps.

THE MATCHUP: BRUINS VS. CARDINAL
UCLA snapped a seven-match losing streak to Stanford on Oct. 21 at Pauley Pavilion, defeating the Cardinal in four sets. Torrey Van Winden had 19 kills, Taylor Formico added 20 digs and Kylie Miller posted 19 assists and 11 digs. The Cardinal hold a 49-39 advantage all-time in the series and a 25-13 edge in matches at Stanford.
Van Winden Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week

Torrey Van Winden earned her second Pac-12 weekly honor in as many weeks on Oct. 24, receiving league Freshman of the Week accolades. Van Winden recorded 31 kills (3.88 per set), a .455 hitting percentage and 12 digs (1.50 per set) in two Bruin victories last week.

Van Winden tied a season and career best with 19 kills against #14 Stanford on Oct. 21, helping the Bruins to their first victory over the Cardinal since 2011 (seven matches). She hit .417, adding nine digs and the first service ace of her career. On Oct. 23 versus California, the freshman posted 12 kills and a season-best .526 hitting percentage with just two errors in 19 attempts.

VAN WINDEN, FORMICO EARN PAC-12 WEEKLY HONORS
The Bruins picked up a pair of Pac-12 Conference weekly honors on Oct. 17, as freshman Torrey Van Winden was named Offensive Player of the Week, while senior Taylor Formico earned Defensive Player of the Week accolades. The Pac-12 awards are the first for both Van Winden and Formico.

Van Winden led the Bruins in kills in both victories, recording 33 (4.12 per set) to go with 18 digs (2.25 per set) and six blocks in eight sets. At #16 Oregon (Oct. 12), Van Winden had a match- and season-best 19 kills with a .341 hitting percentage. She added a career-high 12 digs for her first double-double, adding three blocks, including two solos. Van Winden came back two days later to again lead the Bruins in kills with 14 versus Oregon State. She produced a .444 percentage with only two miscues in 27 attempts to go with six digs and three blocks.

Formico posted 51 digs (6.38 per set) in eight sets. She had 29 digs against Oregon, adding an ace, while recording 22 at Oregon State. In four of Formico's eight sets, she registered at least eight digs, including eight in the second set in Eugene and 10 in the third, both Bruin set victories. The senior had eight digs in each of the first two sets in Corvallis.