This Week — The No. 2-ranked Bruins (9-1, 6-0 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action), winners of seven straight, will travel to Provo to meet No. 4 BYU (7-2, 2-1) for a pair of MPSF matches on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. PT. Friday's match will be televised by the BYUtv Network. The Bruins dropped all three match ups against BYU last season, including an MPSF championship match playoff loss in April. UCLA's last win against the Cougars, in Provo, came in the 2009 season on March 27. The Bruins are on the road again next week and then return home on Feb. 15 to host CSUN.
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.
*Fri. at BYU ---Live TV: BYUtv and live stream http://www.byutv.org/; Live stats --- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=156749
*Sat. at BYU---Live stream http://www.wccsports.com/thew.tv; live stats --- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=156750
This Week's NCAA Stats— To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 2 nationally in hitting percentage (.357)...No. 2 in blocks per set (2.63)...No. 4 in Aces per set (1.84) and No. 5 in Opponent Hitting % (.197) ...It ranks 9th in both set assists (11.69) and kills/set (12.63) ... Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah is 3rd in hitting % (.563) and tied for 14th in blocks per set (1.00) ... Senior Mitch Stahl is 9th nationally in aces per set (0.56) and in blocks per set (1.13). Senior Michael Fisher's eight block assists vs. Princeton ties him for the most by a player this season in a three-set match.
By the Numbers - UCLA began the week leading the MPSF in team blocks (2.67) and Oppt. Hitting % (.193) ... Bruins have out blocked the opponent in each match but the away meeting with UCSB ... UCLA has been even or out aced its opponents this season in all but Ohio State match ... UCLA's six-match MPSF win streak to open the season is its longest since it won its first seven in the 2012 and 2002 seasons (also won six in 2014) .... In 1998, it captured the first 10 MPSF matches of the season ... This weekend begins a stretch of 7-straight matches vs. AVCA-ranked teams ... 26 of the 41 aces in MPSF play this season have come from Mitch Stahl (17) and Micah Ma'a (9)... Stahl has at least one ace in seven straight matches ... UCLA has hit over .300 in all but the Ohio State and Princeton matches this season ...Jake Arnitz has 41 kills in the last three matches he played (sat out Princeton) ... Micah Ma'a has started all 42 career matches ...JT Hatch has produced double-digit points in four of the last five matches ... Stahl is second on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and moved up to fourth on the all-time career block assist list (rally scoring era 2001-present) at the school ... Daenan Gyimah has a 61 kill,6 error, 96 attacks stat line (.573) from his last seven matches vs. Ohio State, UC Irvine, UCSD, Cal Baptist, USC, UCSB, @UCSB ... Gyimah has had multiple blocks in each match and no more than 2 errors in any match ... Michael Fisher's 8 block assists vs. Princeton ties for the most by a Div. I-II player this season ... Arnitz became the first Bruin to hit the 20-kill mark this season with his performance against USC (20) ... Jackson Bantle has 39 digs in last four matches ... Arnitz upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .367 in 2017 ... Stahl improved his blocking average from 0.9 in 2015 per set to 1.19 in 2016 and his hitting % from .365 to .471 last season ... Ma'a had at least one ace in 27 of the 32 total matches last season; he had seven matches with more than a pair of aces ... In the process, he destroyed the old freshman ace record of Gonzalo Quiroga (39 in 2011) with 58 ... JT Hatch had 11 matches with multiple aces last season -- he had 13 aces in 2015 and finished with 39 in 2016 ... Hagen Smith had seven matches with nine or more digs and 12 matches with at least five kills in 2016 ... Ma'a had an MPSF high 7 aces in match versus CSUN on Jan. 29, 2016 ... His triple-double v. BYU (4/2/16) was the first by an MPSF player since 2014...The last time UCLA won more than 25 matches was when it captured 26 in 2006 on the way to an NCAA title...Oliver Martin increased his hitting percentage from .213 in 2015 to .447 in 2016 and his block per set mark from 0.4 to 0.9 ... A year ago, the Bruins participated in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since it captured the program's 19th title in 2006 (playing Ohio State in the 2016 semifinals).
Honors — Micah Ma'a was named the Sports Imports / AVCA Div. I-II Men's Volleyball National Player of the Week on Jan. 17 for his play in wins over UC I (8 kills, .800, 17 set ast., 3 aces, 7 digs, 1 blk) and UCSD (3 kills, .333, 21 set ast., 3 aces, 6 digs, 2 blk) ... Daenan Gyimah was named the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week for his play vs. UCI (14 kills, .737, 2 blk) and UCSD (2 kills, .500, 4 blks) ... 2017 Watch Listees: Karch Kiraly Award (best outside attacker) JT Hatch, Jake Arnitz/ Erik Shoji Award (best libero) Davis Gillett / Ryan Millar Award (best middle attacker) Mitch Stahl / Lloy Ball Award (best setter) Micah Ma'a...Three Bruins were named to the 2016 AVCA All-America squad - 1st team Micah Ma'a; 2nd team Mitch Stahl, Jake Arnitz. Earning 1st team All-MPSF honors were Ma'a and Arnitz; 2nd team was Stahl; Honorable Mention went to JT Hatch and Hagen Smith. Arnitz was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. Ma'a was named Off the Block's Server of the Year and a Freshman All-American.
Scouting the Opponent — BYU is ranked No. 4 in the AVCA poll. The Cougars have captured three of the last four MPSF championships (2016, 2014, 2013) and were the pre-season pick of the conference coaches to win again this season. BYU's conference wins came at CSUN. It lost last weekend, at home, to UC Irvine in five sets to snap a five-match winning streak. The other loss this season came at Loyola-Chicago in four sets. The Cougars opened the season with a big non-league win over Lewis.
Coach Speraw: Year Five at UCLA — John Speraw (UCLA '95), who is in his fifth 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 where his squad took home the Bronze medal. 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 first individual to produce a championship as a head coach, assistant coach and player in collegiate men's volleyball history. He was named head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team on Mar. 25, 2013. 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. He was also an assistant on the gold medal winning U.S. squad in the 2008 Beijing Games. Speraw won the National Coach of the Year award in 2007.
Elsewhere in MPSF: Feb. 2-Pepperdine at Long Beach; Feb. 3-Stanford at CSUN, USC at UC Irvine, Grand Canyon at Cal Bapt., UCSB at Hawai'i; Feb. 4-Stanford at Long Beach, UCSD at USC, UCSB at Hawai'i; Feb. 8-CSUN at UCSD, UCSB at Pepperdine; Feb. 10-BYU at USC, Hawaii at UCSD, Long Beach at UCI; Feb. 11-Hawaii at Cal Baptist, CSUN at UCI, Long Beach at UCSD, UCSB at Stanford
MPSF Standings (Feb. 1)
1.UCLA 6-0 9-1
Stanford 3-0 6-2
3.Long Beach 3-1 7-2
4.BYU 2-1 7-2
Pepperdine 2-1 4-2
6.Irvine 5-2 8-3
7.Hawai'i 1-2 8-2
8.UCSB 3-3 6-3
9.CSUN 1-3 8-3
10.USC 1-5 2-7
11. Cal Baptist 1-6 2-8
12. UC San Diego 0-4 3-5
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.
*Fri. at BYU ---Live TV: BYUtv and live stream http://www.byutv.org/; Live stats --- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=156749
*Sat. at BYU---Live stream http://www.wccsports.com/thew.tv; live stats --- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=156750
This Week's NCAA Stats— To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 2 nationally in hitting percentage (.357)...No. 2 in blocks per set (2.63)...No. 4 in Aces per set (1.84) and No. 5 in Opponent Hitting % (.197) ...It ranks 9th in both set assists (11.69) and kills/set (12.63) ... Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah is 3rd in hitting % (.563) and tied for 14th in blocks per set (1.00) ... Senior Mitch Stahl is 9th nationally in aces per set (0.56) and in blocks per set (1.13). Senior Michael Fisher's eight block assists vs. Princeton ties him for the most by a player this season in a three-set match.
By the Numbers - UCLA began the week leading the MPSF in team blocks (2.67) and Oppt. Hitting % (.193) ... Bruins have out blocked the opponent in each match but the away meeting with UCSB ... UCLA has been even or out aced its opponents this season in all but Ohio State match ... UCLA's six-match MPSF win streak to open the season is its longest since it won its first seven in the 2012 and 2002 seasons (also won six in 2014) .... In 1998, it captured the first 10 MPSF matches of the season ... This weekend begins a stretch of 7-straight matches vs. AVCA-ranked teams ... 26 of the 41 aces in MPSF play this season have come from Mitch Stahl (17) and Micah Ma'a (9)... Stahl has at least one ace in seven straight matches ... UCLA has hit over .300 in all but the Ohio State and Princeton matches this season ...Jake Arnitz has 41 kills in the last three matches he played (sat out Princeton) ... Micah Ma'a has started all 42 career matches ...JT Hatch has produced double-digit points in four of the last five matches ... Stahl is second on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and moved up to fourth on the all-time career block assist list (rally scoring era 2001-present) at the school ... Daenan Gyimah has a 61 kill,6 error, 96 attacks stat line (.573) from his last seven matches vs. Ohio State, UC Irvine, UCSD, Cal Baptist, USC, UCSB, @UCSB ... Gyimah has had multiple blocks in each match and no more than 2 errors in any match ... Michael Fisher's 8 block assists vs. Princeton ties for the most by a Div. I-II player this season ... Arnitz became the first Bruin to hit the 20-kill mark this season with his performance against USC (20) ... Jackson Bantle has 39 digs in last four matches ... Arnitz upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .367 in 2017 ... Stahl improved his blocking average from 0.9 in 2015 per set to 1.19 in 2016 and his hitting % from .365 to .471 last season ... Ma'a had at least one ace in 27 of the 32 total matches last season; he had seven matches with more than a pair of aces ... In the process, he destroyed the old freshman ace record of Gonzalo Quiroga (39 in 2011) with 58 ... JT Hatch had 11 matches with multiple aces last season -- he had 13 aces in 2015 and finished with 39 in 2016 ... Hagen Smith had seven matches with nine or more digs and 12 matches with at least five kills in 2016 ... Ma'a had an MPSF high 7 aces in match versus CSUN on Jan. 29, 2016 ... His triple-double v. BYU (4/2/16) was the first by an MPSF player since 2014...The last time UCLA won more than 25 matches was when it captured 26 in 2006 on the way to an NCAA title...Oliver Martin increased his hitting percentage from .213 in 2015 to .447 in 2016 and his block per set mark from 0.4 to 0.9 ... A year ago, the Bruins participated in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since it captured the program's 19th title in 2006 (playing Ohio State in the 2016 semifinals).
Honors — Micah Ma'a was named the Sports Imports / AVCA Div. I-II Men's Volleyball National Player of the Week on Jan. 17 for his play in wins over UC I (8 kills, .800, 17 set ast., 3 aces, 7 digs, 1 blk) and UCSD (3 kills, .333, 21 set ast., 3 aces, 6 digs, 2 blk) ... Daenan Gyimah was named the Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week for his play vs. UCI (14 kills, .737, 2 blk) and UCSD (2 kills, .500, 4 blks) ... 2017 Watch Listees: Karch Kiraly Award (best outside attacker) JT Hatch, Jake Arnitz/ Erik Shoji Award (best libero) Davis Gillett / Ryan Millar Award (best middle attacker) Mitch Stahl / Lloy Ball Award (best setter) Micah Ma'a...Three Bruins were named to the 2016 AVCA All-America squad - 1st team Micah Ma'a; 2nd team Mitch Stahl, Jake Arnitz. Earning 1st team All-MPSF honors were Ma'a and Arnitz; 2nd team was Stahl; Honorable Mention went to JT Hatch and Hagen Smith. Arnitz was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. Ma'a was named Off the Block's Server of the Year and a Freshman All-American.
Scouting the Opponent — BYU is ranked No. 4 in the AVCA poll. The Cougars have captured three of the last four MPSF championships (2016, 2014, 2013) and were the pre-season pick of the conference coaches to win again this season. BYU's conference wins came at CSUN. It lost last weekend, at home, to UC Irvine in five sets to snap a five-match winning streak. The other loss this season came at Loyola-Chicago in four sets. The Cougars opened the season with a big non-league win over Lewis.
Coach Speraw: Year Five at UCLA — John Speraw (UCLA '95), who is in his fifth 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 where his squad took home the Bronze medal. 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 first individual to produce a championship as a head coach, assistant coach and player in collegiate men's volleyball history. He was named head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team on Mar. 25, 2013. 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. He was also an assistant on the gold medal winning U.S. squad in the 2008 Beijing Games. Speraw won the National Coach of the Year award in 2007.
Elsewhere in MPSF: Feb. 2-Pepperdine at Long Beach; Feb. 3-Stanford at CSUN, USC at UC Irvine, Grand Canyon at Cal Bapt., UCSB at Hawai'i; Feb. 4-Stanford at Long Beach, UCSD at USC, UCSB at Hawai'i; Feb. 8-CSUN at UCSD, UCSB at Pepperdine; Feb. 10-BYU at USC, Hawaii at UCSD, Long Beach at UCI; Feb. 11-Hawaii at Cal Baptist, CSUN at UCI, Long Beach at UCSD, UCSB at Stanford
MPSF Standings (Feb. 1)
1.UCLA 6-0 9-1
Stanford 3-0 6-2
3.Long Beach 3-1 7-2
4.BYU 2-1 7-2
Pepperdine 2-1 4-2
6.Irvine 5-2 8-3
7.Hawai'i 1-2 8-2
8.UCSB 3-3 6-3
9.CSUN 1-3 8-3
10.USC 1-5 2-7
11. Cal Baptist 1-6 2-8
12. UC San Diego 0-4 3-5