Friday, September 30
Salt Lake City, Utah
5:00 PM
UCLA
at
Utah
Freshman Torrey Van Winden had a season-high 14 kills against Washington State.
Ranked vs. Ranked Action on Tap at Utah, CU
September 28, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
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Friday, Sept. 30
#12 UCLA at #25 Utah
5 p.m. PT
Huntsman Center
TV: Pac-12 Los Angeles and Mountain
Live Stats
Sunday, Oct. 2
#12 UCLA at #20 Colorado
11 a.m. PT
Coors Events Center
TV: Pac-12 Los Angeles and Mountain
Live Stats
#12 UCLA TRAVELS TO #25 UTAH, #20 COLORADO
The 12th-ranked Bruins go on the road to face a pair of ranked teams this weekend, taking on #25 Utah on Friday at 5 p.m. PT and #20 Colorado on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT. Both matches will air live on Pac-12 Los Angeles.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Bruins are back in Pauley Pavilion next weekend to take on Arizona State (Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.) and Arizona (Sunday, Oct. 9 at 11 a.m.). Both matches will air on Pac-12 Los Angeles and have free live audio on UCLABruins.com.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA dropped to 12th in this week's AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll, falling three spots. Nine Bruin opponents are in the Top 25 (#6 San Diego, #7 Washington, #9 Stanford, #13 Hawai'i, #17 Washington State, #20 Colorado, #21 Oregon, #23 USC and #25 Utah), while Loyola Marymount (#34) is also receiving votes.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Taylor Formico surpassed two milestone marks last Wednesday at USC, crossing the 1,200-dig threshold as a Bruin and the 2,000-dig mark for her collegiate career. Formico, who has 1,240 digs at UCLA, is seventh on the school's all-time list. Next up on the list are Ashley Bowles (6th, 1,269), Bojana Todorovic (5th, 1,275) and Nellie Spicer (4th, 1,299). Formico's career total is now at 2,032 (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 nine of its 10 victories, UCLA has held its opponent to a .151 hitting percentage or less ... the Bruins are 8-0 this season when winning the second set ... senior Jordan Anderson extended her streak of matches with double figures in kills to 10 after posting 11 against both Washington State (Sept. 23) and USC (Sept. 21). Anderson's season best in kills is 17 against Pacific (Sept. 1) and San Diego (Sept. 10). She also posted her first career ace as a Bruin at USC and her first double-doubles at UCLA after recording 19 digs versus WSU and 15 at USC ... junior Reily Buechler posted her team-best sixth double-double against WSU when she had 15 kills and 13 digs. Buechler has nine matches with double figures in kills and eight with at least 10 digs. The team leader in kills per set had a match-best 21 at USC to go with nine digs ... freshman Torrey Van Winden has at least five kills in all six of her matches, producing 2.39 per set. She posted a season-high 14 against Washington State, adding double-figure kills matches at San Diego and Pepperdine (11 each) ... as part of the Bruins' new offense, freshman Kylie Miller has played in nine-straight sets. She produced 35 assists and eight digs against WSU and 21 assists and five digs versus USC with her first career ace ... sophomore Zana Muno notched her second career match with at least 20 digs, producing 22 at Long Beach State (Sept. 14). She is seeing more swings now, having produced nine kills versus WSU and four kills and five blocks at USC. Muno's career best in kills was 13 against Pacific ... senior Claire Felix has four double-figure kills matches, including 16 in two of the last three contests against WSU and Long Beach State. Felix has hit at least .300 in five matches in a row, including a .588 percentage at Pepperdine (Sept. 13). Defensively, she has five matches with at least four blocks and tied a career high with seven digs versus WSU ... senior Jennie Frager extended her streak of double figures in kills to four after tying a career high with 14 against WSU. She has six double-figure kills contests this season and has hit over .300 in three of her last four. Defensively, she has at least four blocks on 10 occasions, including four straight ... senior Taylor Formico has double figures in digs in all 12 matches, having surpassed 20 digs in four in a row. She went for a season-best 28 at Pepperdine before recording 20 at LBSU, 22 at USC and 25 versus WSU. Formico, who has 100 double-figure digs matches, also posted her third kill of the year at USC ... junior Ryann Chandler posted back-to-back double-doubles at Pepperdine (52 assists/13 digs) and Long Beach State (49 assists/10 digs) to give her four on the season. She added five kills at LBSU to tie a career high.
BRUINS IN THE NATIONAL AND PAC-12 RANKINGS
UCLA is in the Top 35 nationally in five statistical categories (through Sept. 26 matches), ranking second in digs per set (18.36), sixth in kills per set (14.69), seventh in assists per set (13.64), 10th in opponent hitting percentage (.137) and 35th in blocks per set (2.56). Seniors Claire Felix (.382) and Jennie Frager (.377) are 44th and 49th, respectively, in hitting percentage. As far as conference teams go, the Bruins are first among Pac-12 foes in dps and second in opponent hitting, aps and kps. Frager is seventh in hitting and ninth in bps (1.24), while junior Reily Buechler is eighth in kps (3.53) and ninth in points per set (4.02). Senior Taylor Formico ranks second in dps (4.76), junior Ryann Chandler is fourth in aps (9.84) and Felix is fifth in hitting.
SCOUTING THE UTAH UTES
Utah (11-2, 2-0 Pac-12) has won seven matches in a row heading into Friday's contest, including a pair of five-set victories against Colorado and Arizona State to open up conference play. The Utes have won both their matches against ranked teams, defeating #9 BYU (Sept. 15) and #16 Colorado (Sept. 21), both on the road and each in five. Utah is hitting .275 as a team, averaging 14.19 kills, 1.30 service aces, 14.62 digs and 2.26 blocks per set. Junior Adora Anae is tops on the squad with 4.76 kps, 20 aces and 3.37 dps, while junior Carly Trueman (2.75), junior Tawnee Luafalemana (2.21) and sophomore Berkeley Oblad (2.19) are each posting at least 2.00 kps. Freshman Bailey Choy handles most of the setting duties and is averaging 8.85 assists per set. Luafalemana is tops on the squad with 1.06 bps.
THE MATCHUP: BRUINS VS. UTES
UCLA leads the all-time series with Utah 15-3 and won both matchups last season in four sets. The Bruins are 4-2 at the Huntsman Center, with Utah's last win coming in a sweep in 2014. UCLA holds a 7-2 lead in Pac-12 matches.
SCOUTING THE COLORADO BUFFALOES
Colorado (9-3, 1-1 Pac-12), which hosts USC on Friday, split its conference-opening weekend, losing at home to Utah in five and defeating Arizona at home in five. The Buffaloes are 2-1 against ranked foes, beating Penn State and Illinois at home in five on Sept. 3 and 4, while falling at San Diego on Sept. 9. Colorado is hitting .280 as a team, averaging 13.08 kills, 1.18 service aces, 12.65 digs and 2.84 blocks per set. Five players are averaging at least two kps, led by sophomore Alexa Smith (3.29), junior Stephanie Shadley (2.36) and junior Gabby Simpson (2.33), with Smith (14) and Shadley (12) ranked 1-2 in aces. Senior Kiara McKibben (6.43 assists per set) and Simpson (5.42) share the setting duties. Senior Cierra Simpson is tops on the squad with 3.33 dps, while sophomore Naghede Abu (1.43) and junior Joslyn Hayes (1.12) are averaging over a block per set.
THE MATCHUP: BRUINS VS. BUFFALOES
UCLA leads the series with Colorado 10-2, having won three in a row, all by sweep. The Bruins have won seven of the nine matchups since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12. UCLA is 4-1 all-time in Boulder. Prior to their three-match losing streak, CU won the previous two contests.
Players Mentioned
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