Bruins Head to Bay Area to Face Stanford, Cal

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Match 26
Thursday, November 16
8 p.m.
#18 UCLA at #4 Stanford
Maples Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Networks Los Angeles
Live Stats

Match 27
Sunday, November 19
2:30 p.m.
#18 UCLA at California
Haas Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Networks Los Angeles
Live Stats

BRUINS HEAD TO BAY AREA FOR TWO MATCHES
The 18th-ranked Bruins travel north for a pair of matches this week, facing #4 Stanford on Thursday at 8 p.m. and California on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Both contests will air live on Pac-12 Networks Los Angeles.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The regular season concludes next week with a pair of road matches at Oregon State on Wednesday, Nov. 22 (1 p.m.) and USC on Saturday, Nov. 25 (7 p.m.). The UCLA-OSU contest will be live streamed on UCLABruins.com, while the UCLA-USC matchup will air on Pac-12 Networks. On Sunday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m., ESPNU will air the NCAA Selection Show.

BRUINS IN THE POLLS
The Bruins stayed at #18 for the third week in a row in the AVCA poll. Seven teams ranked in the current Top 25 are on UCLA's schedule (#4 Stanford, #5 Nebraska, #10 Washington, #11 San Diego, #14 USC, #17 Utah and #20 Oregon), with Colorado and Oregon State also receiving votes. In the Pac-12 Conference Preseason Poll, the Bruins are fifth, receiving 83 points.

GATES PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore Madeleine Gates was named Pac-12 Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 6, recording 13 blocks to go with 24 kills in two Bruin victories over the Arizona schools. It is the first weekly league honor in Gates' career.

Gates posted eight blocks against Arizona (Nov. 3) and five versus Arizona State (Nov. 4). Three of her 13 blocks were of the solo variety. Offensively, Gates had 13 kills against the Wildcats, producing a .478 hitting percentage, while adding 11 versus the Sun Devils with a .476 clip.

Gates is the third Bruin to win Pac-12 weekly honors this season. UCLA has won four overall awards, with Mac May being named Freshman of the Week on Aug. 28 and Sept. 25 and junior Zana Muno picking up Defensive POW honors on Aug. 28. The Bruins have won 10 Pac-12 DPOW plaudits since the award was implemented in 2011.

NEWS AND NOTES
UCLA hit a season-best .366 against Arizona State on Nov. 4. The Bruins also tied a season high with eight aces versus Arizona on Nov. 3, the second time this year UCLA had that many against the Wildcats ... senior Reily Buechler's 83 attempts in the Oct. 21 win at Colorado were the most swings for a Bruin since Oct. 12, 2012 when Rachael Kidder had 83 at Stanford ... Buechler had a season-best 23 kills, while freshman Jenny Mosser added a career-high 28. It was the first contest in which a pair of Bruins had at least 20 kills since Oct. 10, 2014 against Utah. Buechler was also a part of that match when she had 20 to go with Karsta Lowe's 30 ... as a team, UCLA is 41st in the nation in digs per set at 16.74. Senior Sarah Sponcil comes into this week's play ranked 31st in assists per set (10.97), junior Zana Muno is 39th in digs per set (4.98) and sophomore Madeleine Gates is 45th in blocks per set (1.26) ... Muno, in dps, and Sponcil, in aps, are each second among Pac-12 players, Gates is fifth in hitting percentage (.351) and sixth in bps, freshman Mac May is seventh in service aces per set (0.33) and senior Reily Buechler is ninth in kills per set (3.35) and points per set (3.87). As a team, the Bruins are first in dps (16.74), third in opponent hitting percentage (.191) and fourth in aps (12.82) ... on 23 occasions this season, a Bruin has served at least two aces in a match. May, the team leader in aces, has done it 10 times, junior Kyra Rogers four times, Sponcil three times and Buechler, Mosser and sophomore Savvy Simo twice ... the Bruins are 14-2 when leading their opponent in hitting percentage and 11-3 when holding their foe under a .200 clip ... UCLA is 12-1 when winning the first set after intermission and 7-1 when winning the fourth set ... the Bruins are 10-2 when out-digging their opponent ... Rogers hit a career-best .600 in an Oct. 27 match at Washington State, with nine kills and no errors in 15 attempts. She has eight contests with a .400 hitting percentage or better after hitting .429 against ASU. Rogers, who has at least one ace in four of her last five, also has nine block solos in her last handful of contests ... Buechler, owner of 10 double-doubles, has a team-best 19 double-figure kills matches, surpassing 20 for the third time this season against Utah last Friday (had 23 at CU, 21 vs. WSU on Oct. 1). Buechler, who has 1,457 career kills, is 12th in UCLA history. Next up on the list are Kaitlin Sather (11th, 1,501) and Kim Krull (10th, 1,575) ... Buechler, who served a career-high four aces at Arizona on Oct. 4, has an ace in nine of her last 13 ... Mosser went for double figures in kills in both matches last week with 14 against Colorado and 16 versus Utah. The freshman, who set a new career high with 28 kills at Colorado in October, has 13 double-figure kills contests. She also has at least six digs in 10 of her last 11 matches ... Muno has double figures in digs in 13 in a row, registering at least 20 in nine of her last 11 matches. She is averaging 5.71 dps over her last 11 matches. Muno recorded 28 in the Oct. 21 victory at Colorado, which is six shy of her career high of 34 at Hawai'i (Aug. 27) ... Simo has double figures in digs in eight of her last 11, averaging 2.93 dps during that span. She had 18 digs at Utah on Oct. 20, which was two shy of her career high of 20 against USC (Sept. 20). Simo also had a stretch of four matches in a row with an ace (Oct. 14-27) ... Sponcil leads the team with 14 double-doubles, including six of her last seven matches. She had career highs in assists (63), digs (25) and blocks (6) in the win at Colorado and has at least 40 assists and 15 digs in four of her last seven contests. Offensively, Sponcil has nine aces across her last six matches, recording a career-best four against Arizona. She also has at least one kill in 15 matches in a row ... May, the team leader in aces, has one in eight in a row, totaling 13 during that span. Factoring in her last 11 contests, she has at least a pair of aces in six of those matches. May has 10 double-figure kills contests, including 16 with a .636 hitting percentage in the most recent match against Arizona ... in her last five contests, Gates has 58 kills and just six hitting errors in 105 attempts for a .495 percentage. She has double figures in kills in seven in a row and at least seven kills in 18 straight. Defensively, Gates has a team-best 14 matches with at least five blocks, including 25 in her last four contests.

SCOUTING THE STANFORD CARDINAL
For the first time in Pac-12 play and just the third time this season, Stanford (22-3, 15-1) lost a match, falling in four at Washington last Wednesday. The Cardinal rebounded though with a four-set win at Washington State on Saturday. Stanford, which hosts USC on Wednesday, is averaging 14.40 kills, 1.60 aces, 12.47 digs and 2.92 blocks per set, hitting .311 as a team. Sophomore Kathryn Plummer is tops on the squad with 4.70 kps, redshirt senior Merete Lutz is second at 2.89 and sophomore Audriana Fitzmorris is third at 2.33. Sophomore Jenna Gray handles the setting duties and is averaging 12.03 assists per set. Sophomore Morgan Hentz is first with 3.95 dps, while Fitzmorris (1.44) and junior Tami Alade (1.36) are each posting at least one block per set.

THE SERIES: BRUINS VS. CARDINAL
Stanford improved to 50-40 all-time against UCLA with a four-set triumph at Pauley Pavilion on Oct. 13. Seniors Reily Buechler (10 kills, 13 digs) and Sarah Sponcil (32 assists, 12 digs) each had double-doubles, while sophomore Savvy Simo added 17 digs. The Bruins swept the season series against the Cardinal in 2016, including a five-set triumph last Nov. 12. Stanford holds a 25-14 edge in matches in Palo Alto.

SCOUTING THE CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS
California (13-14, 4-12 Pac-12), which hosts USC on Friday, has dropped four in a row, all in three sets. The Golden Bears are averaging 12.57 kills, 1.19 aces, 13.37 digs and 1.62 blocks per set, hitting .229 as a team. Senior Antzela Dempi (2.99), freshman Mima Mirkovic (2.57) and junior Carmen Annevelink (2.51) are each averaging over two kills per set. Junior Mackenzie Albrecht (5.83 assists per set) and freshman Isabel Potter (5.80) are splitting the setting duties. Sophomore Emma Smith is first on the squad with 3.35 dps, while senior Caihla Petiprin is tops with 0.76 bps.

THE SERIES: BRUINS VS. GOLDEN BEARS
UCLA leads the all-time series with California 62-8 and has won six in a row after a sweep of the Golden Bears at Pauley Pavilion on Oct. 14. Four Bruins had at least eight kills, including a team-best 12 by freshman Mac May, while sophomore Savvy Simo added 11 digs. The Bruins are 27-4 in Berkeley, winning three in a row at Haas Pavilion.

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Bruins Head to Bay Area to Face Stanford, Cal

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Reily Buechler

Madeleine Gates

Mac May

Jenny Mosser

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Sarah Sponcil

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Bruins Head to Bay Area to Face Stanford, Cal

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Reily Buechler

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Jenny Mosser

Zana Muno

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