Friday, September 9
San Diego, Calif.
4:30 PM
UCLA
vs
UC Irvine
Sophomore Taylor Schlener played in all four sets against Missouri State on Sept. 2.
Bruins Take Perfect Record to San Diego
September 07, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
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Friday, Sept. 9
#7 UCLA vs. UC Irvine
4:30 p.m.
Live Audio
Live Video
Live Stats
Saturday, Sept. 10
#7 UCLA at #15 San Diego
6 p.m.
Live Audio
Live Video
Live Stats
All Matches at Jenny Craig Pavilion
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SEVENTH-RANKED BRUINS DOWN SOUTH AT USD INVITATIONAL
One of 27 teams to finish the first two weekends without a loss, the seventh-ranked Bruins travel south for the USD Invitational. UCLA will take on UC Irvine on Friday at 4:30 p.m., followed by a Saturday tilt with host and 15th-ranked San Diego at 6 p.m. Free audio, video and live stats will be available for both contests at UCLABruins.com, along with Twitter updates @uclawomensvb.
WHAT'S NEXT
Non-conference play wraps up next week with local matches at Pepperdine on Tuesday, Sept. 13 and Long Beach State on Wednesday, Sept. 14. Both contests will feature free live audio on UCLABruins.com.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA moved up one spot to seventh in this week's AVCA Top 25 Coaches Poll. The Bruins have gained five positions and 249 points (45 more this week) since the preseason poll. Seven UCLA opponents are in the Top 25 (#6 Washington, #9 Stanford, #14 Hawai'i, #15 San Diego, #18 Colorado, #24 USC and #25 Loyola Marymount). In addition, four other schools (#31 Oregon, #36 Washington State, #37 Arizona and #38 Missouri State) are receiving votes.
FAST START
The Bruins' 6-0 start is their best opening to a season since their National Championship year of 2011 when they won their first half dozen contests. The last time UCLA began a season at 7-0 was in 2006 when it started the campaign with 20 consecutive victories.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Senior Taylor Formico continues to move up the UCLA all-time digs list. Entering the 2016 campaign with 1,026, which was tied with Ali Daley for 19th, Formico has added 93 over the first two weekends to give her 1,119, which puts her in a tie for 14th with Kristee Porter. Next up on the list are Kim Krull (13th, 1,132), Lauren Fendrick (12th, 1,138), Liz Masakayan (11th, 1,142), current assistant coach Kaitlin (Sather) Nielsen (10th, 1,153) and Kelly Reeves (9th, 1,186). Along with moving up the UCLA charts, Formico is also just 89 digs away from 2,000 for her career (792 at UCSB in 2012).
NEWS AND NOTES
The Bruins have held all six of their opponents to a .151 hitting percentage or less ... senior Jordan Anderson has double figures in kills in four in a row and was named to the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic. Her season high is 17 against Pacific on Sept. 1 ... the team leader in kills per set is junior Reily Buechler, who has four double-figure kills matches and a team-best four double-doubles. Her season- and career-best in digs didn't come in a double-double performance when she had 15 versus Pacific. Buechler would then have double-doubles in each of the next two matches to close out the weekend ... sophomore Zana Muno also has four 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 five of her six 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 ... senior Jennie Frager already has four matches with at least five blocks, including a career-best 10 at LMU on Aug. 27, but has also been great on offense. Like Felix, she has zero or one error in five of her six matches and Frager leads the team with a .450 hitting percentage on the season ... senior Taylor Formico has double figures in digs in all six matches after posting at least 10 digs in 30 of 33 contests a year ago. Her season high was 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 three straight matches with double figures in digs. 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
The Bruin defense has shined during the opening two weekends, as they rank seventh nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.106), 11th in blocks per set (3.10) and 15th in digs per set (17.95). Offensively, UCLA is 35th in assists per set (13.19) and 39th in kills per set (14.10). Senior Jennie Frager ranks 11th in bps (1.62) and 13th in hitting percentage (.450), while senior Claire Felix is 46th in hitting (.403). As far as conference teams go, the Bruins are first among Pac-12 foes in opponent hitting and dps, second in aps and third in kps and bps. Frager is second in the Pac-12 in bps and third in hitting, senior Reily Buechler is fourth in points per set (4.43) and ninth in kps (3.57), junior Ryann Chandler is third in aps (10.14), senior Taylor Formico is fourth in dps (4.43) and senior Claire Felix is ninth in hitting.
SCOUTING THE UC IRVINE ANTEATERS
UC Irvine (2-4) plays twice (at San Diego State on Wednesday and at San Diego on Thursday) before facing UCLA on Friday. Last weekend, the Anteaters beat Northeastern in four sets before losing in four to Washington State and California. UCI is averaging 12.83 kills, 1.30 aces, 14.52 digs and 1.91 blocks per set, hitting .192 as a team. Senior Victoria Dennis (3.86 kps) and sophomore Harlee Kekauoha (2.43) are each averaging over two kills a set. Sophomore Ali Koumelis handles the setting and is posting 7.22 assists per set, while junior Luna Tsujimoto is tops in dps at 3.57. The Bruins have never lost to UC Irvine, winning all 12 matchups, including a sweep in the OC last Sept. 18. UCLA has defeated UCI four times at home, four times on the road and four times at neutral sites.
SCOUTING THE SAN DIEGO TOREROS
San Diego (2-2) plays UC Irvine on Thursday and Colorado on Friday before its showdown with UCLA on Saturday. The Toreros have defeated Stanford and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, while falling to Minnesota and Wisconsin. USD is averaging 14.40 kills, 0.53 aces, 14.47 digs and 1.67 blocks per set, hitting .195. Five players are averaging at least two kills per set, led by freshman Thana Fayad's 2.87. Junior Kristen Gengenbacher is the setter and is averaging 7.40 assists per set. Senior Hunter Jennings is tops with 3.27 dps, while sophomore Addie Picha is at 1.09 bps. The Bruins are 8-0 all-time against the Toreros, including a four-set victory in Santa Barbara last Sept. 11. UCLA has won the only meeting at Jenny Craig Pavilion, a five-set triumph in 2007.
Players Mentioned
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