This Week — The No. 6-ranked Bruins (13-7, 8-6 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action) will play a pair of non-league home matches on Friday versus Sacred Heart, 12-3, and on Saturday against Concordia, 17-7. Both contests will be played in the Wooden Center, beginning at 7 p.m.
The Bruins return to MPSF action the following week with a match at USC on Wednesday night. Concordia and Grand Canyon will join the MPSF next season after the formation of the Big West Conference men's volleyball league.
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB and on
*Fri. v. Sacred Heart ---Live stream---http://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2; live stats---http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla; live internet radio---http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/2016/8/16/live-audio.aspx (Denny Cline and Darren Preston)
*Sat. v. Concordia ---Live stream --- http://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2; live stats ---http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla; live internet radio ---http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/2016/8/16/live-audio.aspx (Denny Cline and Darren Preston)
This Week's NCAA Stats— To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 4 nationally in hitting percentage (.338), No. 3 in Aces per set (1.70) and No. 7 in kills per set (12.91), No. 7 in set assists/set (12.18), No. 12 in blocks per set (2.30), No. 24 in digs (8.43) and No. 24 in oppt. hitting % (.258) ... Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah is 2nd in hitting % (.502) ... His .800 hitting percentage vs. Long Beach is the second-highest in the nation this season by a player with at least 15 hitting attempts ... Micah Ma'a, who had six aces at BYU, tied for the most by a player this season in a five-set match, is ranked 15th in aces this week (0.39) ... Senior Michael Fisher's eight block assists vs. Princeton ties him for the 5th-most by a player this season in a three-set match.
By the Numbers - UCLA is 13-3 this season when serving up more aces than the opponent ... It registered a season-high 13 aces against Harvard ... The Bruins have been even or have out aced their opponent this season in all but the Ohio State, 2nd match at BYU, vs. Beach matches ... 47 of the team's aces in MPSF play this season have come from Mitch Stahl (22) and Micah Ma'a (25, 16 in last 8 matches)... The 0-3 loss in second match at BYU was the first time the Bruins had been swept in a match since April 25, 2015 vs. UCI ... UCLA is now 8-2 at home and 4-5 in true road matches this season ... 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)...Top 8 teams head to MPSF Playoffs to fight for automatic bid to NCAAs.
*Mitch Stahl has at least one ace in each of the last 12 matches he has played in and is 2nd on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and is 3rd on the all-time career block assist list (rally scoring era 2001-present) ... Returned to action v. Lewis after missing three matches due to injury.
*Micah Ma'a has put up the following numbers in last 4 matches he has played in: 21k-6-39, .385 with 7 aces, 21 digs, 16 blks ... Ma'a had at least one ace in 27 matches last season and destroyed the old freshman ace record of Gonzalo Quiroga (39 in 2011) with 58 ... Ma'a had a 2016 MPSF high 7 aces last season versus CSUN ... His triple-double v. BYU (4/2/16) was the first by an MPSF player since Jonah Seif of UCSB on Feb. 6, 2014.
*Hagen Smith tied his career high with 12 kills at Stanford (.429) ... Now 8th on the all-time rally scoring school list for digs.
*JT Hatch had a season-high 24 kills and career-best 16 digs at Pepperdine and tied his career-best with 4 aces v. Lewis.
*Dylan Missry has 69 kills in last 6 matches (69-21-136, .353), with a career-best 21 coming vs. CSUN ... Had career-best 4 aces at UC San Diego and 10 in last 6 matches. He has started the last 10 matches.
*Daenan Gyimah began the week second in the MPSF in hitting % with a .502 and hit .800 vs. Long Beach with 1 error in 15 swings to go with a team-best 13 kills. He has had multiple blocks in all but four matches this season.
*Michael Fisher's 8 block assists in three sets vs. Princeton ties for the 3rd most by a Div. I-II player this season in three-set match.
*Jake Arnitz, who became the first Bruin to hit the 20-kill mark this season vs. USC (20), came back to see action vs. Long Beach State after missing the previous six matches due to injury ... Arnitz has upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .358 in 2017.
*Christian Hessenauer has led the team in kills in last 4 matches... Has total of 56 kills in last 5 matches, while hitting .358 (56-17-109).
*Jackson Bantle is the only Bruin to appear in all 20 matches this season ... He is 10th on the all-time rally scoring digs list at UCLA, had season-highs of 14 digs vs. USC and 2 aces v. Harvard.
*Oliver Martin is hitting .718 in last 4 matches (25-2-32) he has played in ... Hit .213 in 2015 and improved to .447 in 2016 and is at .445 entering this weekend's matches ... His block per set mark improved over the years from 0.4 to 0.9 to 0.9 this season.
*Eric Sprague has 10 kills in last 3 matches (10-0-13, .769) he played in ... Saw action in 11 matches in '16 with 0.5 blocks per set and hit .403.
*Davis Gillett has seen action in last 10 matches and in 43 sets this season as both a libero and a serving specialist...31 digs in last 6 matches.
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.
Scouting the Opponent — Sacred Heart is 12-3 on the season ...The Pioneers began the week in second place in the EIVA standings a half-game behind Penn State...SHU ranks in the top 10 in the country in aces (6th-1.6), assists (5th-12.48), digs (4th-9.35), hitting % (10th-.308), kills per set (5th-13.38), Oppt. hitting % (8th-.202)...Joshua Ayzenberg leads the nation in digs per set (3.49).
Concordia is 17-7 and had won its last eight matches, including a four-setter at UCSB on Wednesday, heading into a Friday match vs. UCSD.
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: Mar. 17-Hawai'i at BYU, Cal Bapt. at Penn St., Long Beach St. at CSUN, Concordia at UCSD; Mar. 18 - Sacred Heart at Long Beach St., Hawai'i at BYU, Cal Bapt. at St. Francis; Pepperdine at Stanford; Mar. 19 - Sacred Heart at USC.
MPSF Standings (thru matches of 3/15)
Long Beach State 13-1 19-2
BYU 11-1 17-2
Hawai'i 10-2 20-2
UC Irvine 9-5 15-6
UCLA 8-6 13-7
Stanford 6-7 11-9
Pepperdine 5-8 7-9
CSUN 5-9 12-11
UC Santa Barbara 5-9 10-12
USC 5-9 9-12
UC San Diego 3-11 6-15
Cal Baptist 1-13 3-16
The Bruins return to MPSF action the following week with a match at USC on Wednesday night. Concordia and Grand Canyon will join the MPSF next season after the formation of the Big West Conference men's volleyball league.
Live Coverage — Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB and on
*Fri. v. Sacred Heart ---Live stream---http://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2; live stats---http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla; live internet radio---http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/2016/8/16/live-audio.aspx (Denny Cline and Darren Preston)
*Sat. v. Concordia ---Live stream --- http://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2; live stats ---http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla; live internet radio ---http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/2016/8/16/live-audio.aspx (Denny Cline and Darren Preston)
This Week's NCAA Stats— To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 4 nationally in hitting percentage (.338), No. 3 in Aces per set (1.70) and No. 7 in kills per set (12.91), No. 7 in set assists/set (12.18), No. 12 in blocks per set (2.30), No. 24 in digs (8.43) and No. 24 in oppt. hitting % (.258) ... Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah is 2nd in hitting % (.502) ... His .800 hitting percentage vs. Long Beach is the second-highest in the nation this season by a player with at least 15 hitting attempts ... Micah Ma'a, who had six aces at BYU, tied for the most by a player this season in a five-set match, is ranked 15th in aces this week (0.39) ... Senior Michael Fisher's eight block assists vs. Princeton ties him for the 5th-most by a player this season in a three-set match.
By the Numbers - UCLA is 13-3 this season when serving up more aces than the opponent ... It registered a season-high 13 aces against Harvard ... The Bruins have been even or have out aced their opponent this season in all but the Ohio State, 2nd match at BYU, vs. Beach matches ... 47 of the team's aces in MPSF play this season have come from Mitch Stahl (22) and Micah Ma'a (25, 16 in last 8 matches)... The 0-3 loss in second match at BYU was the first time the Bruins had been swept in a match since April 25, 2015 vs. UCI ... UCLA is now 8-2 at home and 4-5 in true road matches this season ... 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)...Top 8 teams head to MPSF Playoffs to fight for automatic bid to NCAAs.
*Mitch Stahl has at least one ace in each of the last 12 matches he has played in and is 2nd on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and is 3rd on the all-time career block assist list (rally scoring era 2001-present) ... Returned to action v. Lewis after missing three matches due to injury.
*Micah Ma'a has put up the following numbers in last 4 matches he has played in: 21k-6-39, .385 with 7 aces, 21 digs, 16 blks ... Ma'a had at least one ace in 27 matches last season and destroyed the old freshman ace record of Gonzalo Quiroga (39 in 2011) with 58 ... Ma'a had a 2016 MPSF high 7 aces last season versus CSUN ... His triple-double v. BYU (4/2/16) was the first by an MPSF player since Jonah Seif of UCSB on Feb. 6, 2014.
*Hagen Smith tied his career high with 12 kills at Stanford (.429) ... Now 8th on the all-time rally scoring school list for digs.
*JT Hatch had a season-high 24 kills and career-best 16 digs at Pepperdine and tied his career-best with 4 aces v. Lewis.
*Dylan Missry has 69 kills in last 6 matches (69-21-136, .353), with a career-best 21 coming vs. CSUN ... Had career-best 4 aces at UC San Diego and 10 in last 6 matches. He has started the last 10 matches.
*Daenan Gyimah began the week second in the MPSF in hitting % with a .502 and hit .800 vs. Long Beach with 1 error in 15 swings to go with a team-best 13 kills. He has had multiple blocks in all but four matches this season.
*Michael Fisher's 8 block assists in three sets vs. Princeton ties for the 3rd most by a Div. I-II player this season in three-set match.
*Jake Arnitz, who became the first Bruin to hit the 20-kill mark this season vs. USC (20), came back to see action vs. Long Beach State after missing the previous six matches due to injury ... Arnitz has upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .358 in 2017.
*Christian Hessenauer has led the team in kills in last 4 matches... Has total of 56 kills in last 5 matches, while hitting .358 (56-17-109).
*Jackson Bantle is the only Bruin to appear in all 20 matches this season ... He is 10th on the all-time rally scoring digs list at UCLA, had season-highs of 14 digs vs. USC and 2 aces v. Harvard.
*Oliver Martin is hitting .718 in last 4 matches (25-2-32) he has played in ... Hit .213 in 2015 and improved to .447 in 2016 and is at .445 entering this weekend's matches ... His block per set mark improved over the years from 0.4 to 0.9 to 0.9 this season.
*Eric Sprague has 10 kills in last 3 matches (10-0-13, .769) he played in ... Saw action in 11 matches in '16 with 0.5 blocks per set and hit .403.
*Davis Gillett has seen action in last 10 matches and in 43 sets this season as both a libero and a serving specialist...31 digs in last 6 matches.
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.
Scouting the Opponent — Sacred Heart is 12-3 on the season ...The Pioneers began the week in second place in the EIVA standings a half-game behind Penn State...SHU ranks in the top 10 in the country in aces (6th-1.6), assists (5th-12.48), digs (4th-9.35), hitting % (10th-.308), kills per set (5th-13.38), Oppt. hitting % (8th-.202)...Joshua Ayzenberg leads the nation in digs per set (3.49).
Concordia is 17-7 and had won its last eight matches, including a four-setter at UCSB on Wednesday, heading into a Friday match vs. UCSD.
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: Mar. 17-Hawai'i at BYU, Cal Bapt. at Penn St., Long Beach St. at CSUN, Concordia at UCSD; Mar. 18 - Sacred Heart at Long Beach St., Hawai'i at BYU, Cal Bapt. at St. Francis; Pepperdine at Stanford; Mar. 19 - Sacred Heart at USC.
MPSF Standings (thru matches of 3/15)
Long Beach State 13-1 19-2
BYU 11-1 17-2
Hawai'i 10-2 20-2
UC Irvine 9-5 15-6
UCLA 8-6 13-7
Stanford 6-7 11-9
Pepperdine 5-8 7-9
CSUN 5-9 12-11
UC Santa Barbara 5-9 10-12
USC 5-9 9-12
UC San Diego 3-11 6-15
Cal Baptist 1-13 3-16