Junior Kyra Rogers has 10 contests with a .400 hitting percentage or better.
Photo by: Han Duong (herewegobru.com)
15th-Seeded Bruins Host Austin Peay on Friday
November 29, 2017 | Women's Volleyball
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NCAA Championship First and Second Rounds
Friday, December 1
5:30 p.m.
Denver vs. Cal Poly
8 p.m.
Austin Peayย vs. #15-seed UCLA
Saturday, December 2
7 p.m.
Friday Winners
Free Live Video (All Three Matches)
Live Stats (All Three Matches)
Free Live Audio (UCLA Matches Only)
All Matches at Pauley Pavilion
Tickets
15TH-SEEDED UCLA HOSTS FIRST AND SECOND ROUNDS
The 15th-seeded Bruins host the NCAA First and Second Rounds at Pauley Pavilion this weekend. UCLA takes on Austin Peay in the First Round on Friday at 8 p.m., which will be preceded by a matchup between Denver and Cal Poly at 5:30 p.m. The winners of Friday's contests will play in the Second Round on Saturday at 7 p.m. Live video and live stats will be available for all three matches at UCLABruins.com.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The winner of the Los Angeles Sub-Regional will advance to next weekend's NCAA Regionals at the highest remaining seed in that side of the bracket. The other seeded teams along with the Bruins include #2 Florida, #7 Minnesota and #10 USC. The Regional Semifinals will be played on Friday, Dec. 8 and the Regional Final will take place on Saturday, Dec. 9, with both days worth of matches airing on either ESPNU or ESPN3.
BRUINS IN THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP
UCLA is making its 35th appearance in the NCAA Championship and holds an all-time record of 88-31 (.739). Since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1998, the Bruins are 31-5 (.861) in the First and Second Rounds of the tournament, including a perfect 18-0 in the opening match. Including this season, UCLA has hosted the First and Second Rounds for 12 of the last 15 years. The Bruins are 24-2 (.923) in First and Second Round home matches since '98 and 49-6 (.891) in Westwood in NCAA Championship contests.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
The Bruins ended the regular season ranked 17th in the AVCA Coaches poll, receiving 588 points. Seven teams ranked in the current Top 25 are on UCLA's schedule (#4 Stanford, #5 Nebraska, #9 San Diego, #10 Washington, #13 Utah, #14 USC and #24 Oregon), with Colorado and Oregon State also receiving votes.
FIVE BRUINS EARN ALL-PAC-12 CONFERENCE HONORS
A total of five players were named to the All-Pac-12 Conference teams on Tuesday, as senior Reily Buechler and sophomore Madeleine Gates earned First Team honors, senior Sarah Sponcil and freshman Mac May picked up All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention accolades and May and Jenny Mosser were recognized on the Pac-12 All-Freshman Team.
Buechler, who earned All-Pac-12 First Team plaudits for the first time after receiving Honorable Mention nods the last three years, leads the Bruins with 3.40 kills per set and is third with 2.61 digs per set and 21 service aces, adding 0.46 blocks per set. The senior is first on the squad with 22 double-figure kills contests and second with 12 double-doubles. Buechler has reached the 20-kill mark four times this season, posting 23 at Colorado (Oct. 21), 22 against Utah (Nov. 10) and Stanford (Nov. 16) and 21 versus Washington State (Oct. 1). Last Saturday in her fourth straight win at USC, she became the 12th Bruin to reach the 1,500-kill mark for her career. Buechler is ninth among Pac-12 players in kps and points per set (3.89).
Gates leads the Bruins with 1.23 blocks per set and a .354 hitting percentage, adding 2.85 kills per set, which is third on the team. The sophomore has 14 double-figure kills contests this season, reaching a career high with 22 at Stanford on Nov. 16, and has surpassed the .400 hitting plateau in 11 matches. On the defensive end, Gates has a team-best 15 matches with at least five blocks, recording a personal-best 10 in the season opener against San Diego (Aug. 25). She was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on Nov. 6 after posting 13 blocks to go with 24 kills in a pair of wins over Arizona and Arizona State. Gates is fifth among conference players in hitting and sixth in bps.
Sponcil is tops on the team with 11.27 assists per set and 17 double-doubles, while also ranking second with 3.18 digs per set to go with 0.55 blocks per set and 18 service aces. She enters the postseason with double-doubles in nine of her last 11 matches, producing career highs in assists (63) and digs (25) in a win at Colorado on Oct. 21. Sponcil is second among Pac-12 setters in aps and 20th nationally, and has also chipped in 50 kills.
May leads the Bruins with 30 service aces, adding 2.68 kills per set. She has 12 double-figure kills contests, posting a season-best 18 at Hawai'i on Aug. 27. On three occasions this season, May has served three aces. Ranking ninth among conference players in aces per set (0.31), May has 11 contests with at least a pair of aces. She has twice been named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week (Aug. 28 and Sept. 25).
Mosser, who was named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week on Monday, is second on the team with 2.94 kills per set. She has 16 double-figure kills contests, which is second on the team, recording a season-high 28 kills at Colorado. Mosser also has a pair of double-doubles against Long Beach State (Sept. 15) and Washington (Sept. 29).
MUNO, MOSSER EARN PAC-12 WEEKLY HONORS
In the final week of conference weekly awards, the Bruins received a pair of honors, as junior Zana Muno was named Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and Jenny Mosser was recognized as the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, as announced by the league on Monday.
Muno recorded 32 digs in a pair of Bruin road victories at Oregon State and #13 USC. She had 21 digs in just three sets last Wednesday in Corvallis, posting eight digs in each of the first two sets and five in the third, becoming the 24th Bruin to reach the 1,000-dig club. Muno added 11 digs in last Saturday's sweep versus the Trojans, totaling five in the second set and three in the first and third. Muno leads the Bruins with 4.94 digs per set, ranking second among Pac-12 liberos and 47th nationally.
Mosser tallied 21 kills in last week's victories, notching 10 at Oregon State with eight digs and five blocks. She was error-free in the second set in Corvallis with five kills in seven attempts, adding four digs, three blocks and two kills in the third set. Versus USC, Mosser had 11 kills, five digs and two blocks, producing four kills in both the second and third sets. Mosser is second on the team with 2.94 kills per set.
Four different Bruins earned Pac-12 Conference weekly honors this season, totaling six overall awards. Muno book-ended the season with Defensive POW accolades, also picking up the honor on Aug. 28. It is also the third Pac-12 DPOW of the year for UCLA, with sophomore Madeleine Gates winning the award on Nov. 6. Mosser won the Bruins' third Pac-12 FOW of the season, with Mac May receiving the award on Aug. 28 and Sept. 25.
NEWS AND NOTES
UCLA hit a season-best .366 against Arizona State on Nov. 4 and is 8-1 this year when hitting .300 or better ... the Bruins tied a season high with eight aces versus Arizona on Nov. 3 and are 13-2 when out-acing their opponent ... 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 38th in the nation in digs per set (16.93) and 41st in both assists (13.04) and kills (13.84) per set. Senior Sarah Sponcil comes into the postseason ranked 20th nationally in aps (11.27), while junior Zana Muno is 47th in dps (4.94) ... Muno, in dps, and Sponcil, in aps, are each second among Pac-12 players in their respective categories, sophomore Madeleine Gates is fifth in hitting percentage (.354) and sixth in blocks per set (1.23), Buechler is ninth in both kps (3.40) and points per set (3.89) and freshman Mac May is ninth in service aces per set (0.31). As a team, the Bruins lead the way in dps, while ranking third in opponent hitting percentage (.193) and fourth in aps and kps ... on 24 occasions this season, a Bruin has served at least two aces in a match. May, the team leader in aces, has done it 11 times, junior Kyra Rogers four times, Sponcil three times and Buechler, Mosser and sophomore Savvy Simo twice ... the Bruins are 17-2 when leading their opponent in hitting and 14-3 when holding their foe under a .200 clip ... UCLA is 15-2 when winning the first set after intermission and 7-1 when winning the fourth set ... Rogers hit a career-best .667 in a Nov. 19 win at California, recording nine kills and one error in 12 attempts. She has 10 contests with a .400 hitting percentage or better, including a pair of at least .600 (.600 at WSU on Oct. 27). Rogers also has an ace in six of her last nine ... Buechler, owner of 12 double-doubles, has a team-best 22 double-figure kills matches, surpassing 20 for the fourth time this season at Stanford on Nov. 16 (had 23 at CU, 22 vs. Utah on Nov. 10 and 21 vs. WSU on Oct. 1). Buechler, who has 1,509 career kills, is 11th in UCLA history and 66 kills away from reaching the Top 10 (Kim Krull, 1,575). The senior, who served a career-high four aces at Arizona on Oct. 4, has an ace in 11 of her last 17 ... Mosser has double figures in kills in five of her last six, including 19 at Stanford. The freshman, who set a new career high with 28 kills at Colorado, has at least seven kills in 21 of her last 22. She also has at least five digs in 13 of her last 15 matches and set a career high with five blocks at Oregon State last Wednesday ... Muno, who became the 24th member of UCLA's 1,000-dig club at OSU (1,029 career), has double figures in digs in 17 in a row. She has registered at least 20 in 11 of her last 15 matches, posting 21 at OSU. 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 12 double-figure digs contests this season and at least five digs in all but three matches. 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 17 double-doubles, including nine of her last 11 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 six of her last 11 contests. Offensively, Sponcil has 10 aces across her last 10 matches, recording a career-best four against Arizona ... May posted her second match of the season with at least a .550 hitting percentage at OSU when she had 12 kills and just one error in 20 attempts. It was her 12th double-figure kills contest, including two of her last three. May, the team leader in aces, has at least one in 11 of her last 15, totaling 19 during that span and two aces or more in seven of those matches ... in her last nine contests, Gates has 111 kills and just 15 hitting errors in 224 attempts for a .429 percentage. She has double figures in kills in 10 of her last 11, recording a career-best 22 at Stanford. Gates has at least a .400 percentage in 11 contests. Defensively, she has a team-best 15 matches with at least five blocks, including 40 in her last eight contests (1.43 per set).
SCOUTING THE AUSTIN PEAY GOVERNORS
Austin Peay (30-5), out of Clarksville, Tenn., claimed the Ohio Valley Conference's automatic bid by virtue of winning its third OVC Tournament title. The Governors are making their second NCAA Tournament appearance. Austin Peay is averaging 14.07 kills, 1.53 aces, 17.16 digs and 1.89 blocks per set, hitting .240 as a team. Senior Ashley Slay is first on the squad with 3.69 kps, while redshirt junior Christina White is second with 2.95 kps and first with 50 aces. Junior Kristen Stucker quarterbacks the offense and is posting 11.54 assists per set. Sophomore Ginny Gerig is first with 3.79 dps, while junior Kaylee Taff is tops with 0.80 bps.ย
SCOUTING THE CAL POLY MUSTANGS
Cal Poly (26-2) went undefeated in the Big West Conference at 16-0 to earn the league's automatic berth. The Mustangs will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2007 and 15th overall. Cal Poly is averaging 15.13 kills, 1.45 aces, 14.91 digs and 1.93 blocks per set. Sophomore Torrey Van Winden is first with 4.69 kps, followed by junior Adlee Van Winden's 3.38 kps. Senior Taylor Nelson handles the setting duties and is recording 11.90 assists per set. Junior Katherine Brouker is first with 3.95 dps, while freshman Madilyn Mercer is tops with 0.77 bps.
SCOUTING THE DENVER PIONEERS
Denver (23-5) claimed the regular season and Summit League Tournament titles to earn the bid into the NCAA Championship. The Pioneers are making their fourth straight trip to the postseason. Denver is averaging 13.96 kills, 1.57 aces, 16.44 digs and 2.32 blocks per set, hitting .253 as a team. Junior Becca Latham is first on the team with 3.23 kps, while senior Kayla Principato is second at 2.74 kps. Freshman Ellie Anderson (5.51 assists per set) and senior Piyusha Boteju (5.47) are splitting the setting duties. Senior Cassidy Rooke is tops with 4.07 dps, while junior Emma Willis is first with 1.15 bps.
BRUINS VS. THE WEEKEND FIELD
UCLA has never faced Austin Peay, but will be playing an Ohio Valley Conference opponent for the second year in a row in the First Round of the NCAA Championship. The Bruins beat Murray State in four last season in Westwood ... UCLA is 12-1 all-time against Cal Poly, but the teams haven't met since playing each other three times in 1985. The Bruins won two of those three matchups. UCLA is 7-1 at home versus Cal Poly ... UCLA has won all three matchups with Denver, including a sweep in the Mile High City in 2013. All three meetings between the two teams have taken place in Denver (1999 and 2006).
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