Senior outside hitter Jake Arnitz and junior setter/opposite Micah Ma'a were selected to the pre-season Men's Volleyball All-America teams as chosen by Off the Block/Springbak, Inc's nationwide voting committee comprised of coaches and reporters.

Arnitz, who was named to the first-team, led the Bruins last season with a 3.51 kills per set average while posting a career-best .386 hitting percentage. He was a second-team AVCA All-America pick last season and a first-team All-MPSF selection. Arnitz will enter the 2018 season ninth on the all-time school list in career kills.

Ma'a was named to the second-team pre-season All-America unit.  He ranks sixth on the school list for career service aces and ranked 25^th in the nation last year with a 0.33 sevice aces per set average.

Senior JT Hatch and sophomore Daenan Gyiman received honorable mention on the Off the Block squad. Hatch, who saw action at outside hitter and libero last season, hit a career-best .328 during the campaign. Gyimah was chosen to the All-MPSF Freshman team last year after posting one of the nation's best hitting percentage marks of .494. He recorded multiple blocks in 14 of his 19 matches played.

The Bruins are scheduled to play 10 of the top 15-ranked teams in matches at home this season, including battles against top-ranked and two-time defending national champion Ohio State (in Pauley Pavilion on Jan. 20), No. 2 Long Beach State (in Pauley Pavilion on Feb. 21) and No. 3 BYU (in Pauley Pavilion on Apr. 7).

The 2018 regular season begins for the Bruins on January 3^rd with a matchup against New Jersey Institute of Technology from the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA).  That weekend, the Bruins will host the Wooden Classic Tournament with teams from UC San Diego (Big West), King University, which tied for first place in Conference Carolinas last season, and McKendree University from the Midwestern Collegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA).

On January 18-20, UCLA hosts the annual Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins will welcome two-time defending NCAA Champion Ohio State (MIVA), No. 9 Penn State (EIVA) and No. 12 USC for the Challenge matches. All four teams in the Challenge own NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships.

The Bruins will play this season in the revamped Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) and open league action against the two new members on February 8, with a match at Concordia, Irvine, before heading to play at No. 15 Grand Canyon on February 10. The Bruins will still square off against traditional foes No. 7 UC Irvine (now in Big West), No. 11 CSUN (Big West) and UC Santa Barbara (Big West). The first home league match of the season is set for February 14^th in Pauley against No. 12 USC.

The NCAA Men's National Collegiate Volleyball Championship returns to Pauley Pavilion on May 3 and May 5.


PRESEASON FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

Setter: Josh Tuaniga, Long Beach State
Opposite: Stijn van Tilburg, Hawai'i
Opposite: Kyle Ensing, Long Beach State
Outside attacker: Jake Arnitz, UCLA
Outside attacker: TJ DeFalco, Long Beach State
Outside attacker: Brenden Sander, BYU
Outside attacker: Nicolas Szerszen, Ohio State
Middle attacker: Jeff Jendryk, Loyola
Libero: Evan Enriques, Stanford
Libero: Larry Tuileta, Hawai'i

PRESEASON SECOND-TEAM ALL-AMERICANS

Setter: Leo Durkin, BYU
Setter: Micah Ma'a, UCLA
Opposite: Arvis Greene, CSUN
Opposite: Calvin Mende, Penn State
Outside attacker: Ryan Coenen, Lewis
Outside attacker: David Wieczorek, Pepperdine
Middle attacker: Price Jarman, BYU
Middle attacker: Kevin Rakestraw, Stanford
Middle attacker: Scott Stadick, UC Irvine
Middle attacker: Matt Walsh, Ball State