Tuesday, September 13
Malibu, Calif.
7:00 PM
UCLA
at
Pepperdine
Senior Taylor Formico has double figures in digs in all eight matches.
Non-Conference Play Concludes for #11 Bruins
September 12, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
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Tuesday, Sept. 13
#11 UCLA at Pepperdine
7 p.m.
Firestone Fieldhouse
Live Audio
Live Video
Live Stats
Wednesday, Sept. 14
#11 UCLA at RV Long Beach State
7 p.m.
Walter Pyramid
Live Audio
Live Video
Live Stats
#11 UCLA CLOSES OUT NON-CONFERENCE PLAY
The 11th-ranked Bruins finish non-conference action this week on the road when they face Pepperdine on Tuesday at 7 p.m. and Long Beach State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Both matches will feature free audio, video and live stats on UCLABruins.com, along with Twitter updates @uclawomensvb.
WHAT'S NEXT
Pac-12 conference play begins next week with a matchup at #21 USC on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. The contest will air on Pac-12 Los Angeles and will also feature free audio on UCLABruins.com. On Friday, Sept. 23, the Bruins entertain Washington State in their home opener at Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m. Free audio and video will be available at UCLABruins.com.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA fell four spots from seventh to 11th in this week's AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Bruins lost 248 points. Seven UCLA opponents are in the Top 25 (#5 Washington, #10 San Diego, #12 Stanford, #15 Hawai'i, #18 Colorado, #21 USC and #24 Oregon). In addition, four other schools (#27 Missouri State, #32 Washington State, #35 Long Beach State and #36 Loyola Marymount) are receiving votes.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Taylor Formico continues to move up the UCLA all-time digs list. Entering the 2016 campaign with 1,026, she has added 119 over the first three weekends to give her 1,145 as a Bruin. Formico is 11th all-time and just nine away from reaching the Top 10 and surpassing current assistant coach Kaitlin (Sather) Nielsen (1,153). She could also this week pass Kelly Reeves, who is ninth with 1,186 digs. Along with moving up the UCLA charts, Formico is also just 63 digs away from 2,000 for her career (792 at UCSB in 2012).
NEWS AND 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) ... in all of its seven victories, UCLA has held its opponent to a .151 hitting percentage or less ... senior Jordan Anderson has double figures in kills in six in a row. She equaled a season high in kills at #15 San Diego on Sept. 10 with 17, also posting that total against Pacific on Sept. 1 ... the team leader in kills per set is junior Reily Buechler, who has six double-figure kills matches, including four in a row. She is also tied for the team lead with four double-doubles. Buechler's season- and career-best in digs didn't come in a double-double performance when she had 15 versus Pacific ... freshman Torrey Van Winden, who was injured for the first two weekends of the season, made her collegiate debut last weekend. She had six kills and five digs against UC Irvine (Sept. 9) and 11 kills at #15 San Diego ... sophomore Zana Muno has five double-figure digs matches, including a season-high 15 against Missouri State on Sept. 2. She posted her first double-double of the season with a career-best 13 kills to go with 14 digs versus Pacific ... senior Claire Felix has zero or one error in seven of her eight matches this season. The only contest in which she has had two errors came in a match where she also had a season-best 11 kills and a .474 hitting percentage against Missouri State ... senior Jennie Frager has at least six kills in every match this season, posting career bests in kills (14) and hitting percentage (.737) against Illinois State on Aug. 27. She also has four matches with at least five blocks, including a career-best 10 at LMU on Aug. 27 ... senior Taylor Formico has double figures in digs in all eight matches after posting at least 10 digs in 30 of 33 contests a year ago. Her season high is 19 at LMU ... junior Ryann Chandler posted double-doubles in back-to-back matches against Pacific and Missouri State, including 15 digs versus MSU, which was a UCLA career high for the setter. She posted 40-plus assists in three in a row (Aug. 27-Sept. 2) ... freshman Savvy Simo has at least nine digs in six of eight contests. She has a pair of 13-dig contests against Pacific and Hawai'i (Sept. 3).
FRAGER NAMED PAC-12 OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Senior Jennie Frager was named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week for the first time in her career on Aug. 29 after helping the Bruins to a 3-0 record at the LMU Invitational.
Frager had 28 kills and just one error in 48 attempts in the three victories for a .562 hitting percentage, adding 16 blocks. She set career highs in kills and hitting on Aug. 27 against Illinois State, recording 14 kills and no errors in 19 attempts for a .737 hitting percentage. It was Frager's first of two error-free matches on that day, as she also tallied eight kills and no miscues in 19 swings (.421 percentage) at #21 Loyola Marymount. Along with all of her offensive plaudits, of Frager's 16 blocks, 10 came against LMU, which was a personal best. It marked the first time a Bruin reached double figures in blocks in a match since 2012.
Since 2011, when the conference started handing out Offensive, Defensive and Freshman of the Week honors, UCLA has won 10 Offensive, five Defensive and four Freshman awards.
BRUINS IN THE NATIONAL AND PAC-12 RANKINGS
UCLA is in the Top 35 nationally in six statistical categories (through Sept. 11 matches), ranking fifth in digs per set (18.21), 11th in opponent hitting percentage (.128), 16th in assists per set (13.43), 21st in blocks per set (2.82), 24th in kills per set (14.14) and 34th in hitting percentage (.264). Individually, senior Jennie Frager is 21st in hitting (.418) and 32nd in bps (1.39). As far as conference teams go, the Bruins are first among Pac-12 foes in aps (13.43) and dps (18.21). UCLA is also second in opponent hitting (.128) and fourth in bps (2.82). Frager is fifth in bps and tied for fifth in hitting, while junior Reily Buechler is seventh in kps (3.61) and points per set (4.27). Junior Ryann Chandler ranks third in aps (10.00), senior Taylor Formico is fourth in dps (4.25) and senior Jordan Anderson is 10th in kps (3.37).
SCOUTING THE PEPPERDINE WAVES
Pepperdine is 6-3 on the season, having defeated Rhode Island, CSUN, SMU, Alabama State, Arizona State and Harvard, while falling to Lipscomb, Arizona and Long Beach State. The Waves are averaging 12.03 kills, 1.22 aces, 15.22 digs and 2.16 blocks per set, hitting .194 as a team. Sophomores Heidi Dyer (2.31) and Nikki Lyons (2.26) are each averaging over two kills a set. Dyer (5.34 aps) is splitting the setting duties with junior Maddie Dilfer (4.51). Defensively, freshman Hana Lishman is posting 4.03 dps, while freshman Jasmine Gross is tops with 1.06 bps.ย
THE MATCHUP: BRUINS VS. WAVES
UCLA leads the all-time series with Pepperdine 51-12. The Bruins and the Waves will renew acquaintances for the first time since 2012 when UCLA won at home in a sweep. The Bruins are 14-7 all-time versus Pepperdine in Malibu, but dropped the last meeting at Firestone Fieldhouse in 2011 in five sets.
SCOUTING THE LONG BEACH STATE 49ERS
Long Beach State comes into Wednesday's match at 5-4, having defeated Texas Tech, California, Loyola Marymount, Duke and Pepperdine, while losing to Portland State, Colorado, Washington State and Arizona State. The 49ers are averaging 12.54 kills, 1.03 aces, 13.29 digs and 2.77 blocks per set, hitting .240 as a team. Senior Nele Barber leads the squad with both 3.80 kps and 3.03 dps, while junior Ashley Murray (2.34) and sophomore Peyton Grahovac (2.00) are also at 2.00 kps. Sophomore Missy Owens quarterbacks the offense and is posting 10.06 aps. Freshman YiZhi Xue is tops on the squad with 1.26 bps.
THE MATCHUP: BRUINS VS. 49ERS
UCLA leads the series with Long Beach State by a tally of 59-19. The Bruins have won five straight, including a four-set victory at the Walter Pyramid last Sept. 18. UCLA is 17-6 versus the 49ers in Long Beach. LBSU's most recent win in the series was on Sept. 19, 2009 in Fullerton (3-0).
Players Mentioned
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