University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
MVB Seniors Michael Fisher, Hagen Smith, Jackson Bantle and Mitch Stahl.
MVB Hosts No. 4 Hawai'i Friday/Saturday
April 06, 2017 | Men's Volleyball
This Week In MVB โ The No. 6-ranked Bruins (17-7, 10-6 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action) who have won seven in a row, close out the regular season by hosting No. 4-ranked Hawai'i (22-4, 12-4) on Friday (5 p.m. Pac-12 Network TV) and on Saturday (7 p.m.) in the Wooden Center. Saturday will mark the final home regular season match for seniors Michael Fisher, Hagen Smith, Jackson Bantle and Mitch Stahl. The senior classย will be honored in a ceremony to be held at the conclusion of the match. UH's only losses this season have come on the road in matches at No. 3ย BYU and No. 1ย Long Beach State.
Playoff implications abound for the final regular season MPSF weekend of the season. UCLA clinches a homeย playoff spot (on Apr. 15) with a pair of wins over UH as at least the fourth seed. UCLA can also gain the three seed with two wins over Hawai'iย and at least one UC Irvine loss this weekendย in matches against either Stanford or Pepperdine. UCLA holds a two-way tie breaker over UC Irvine (5-3 sets), and in the event of a couple of wins over Hawai'i, would also hold the two-way edge over UH and win a potential three-way tie over UH and UCI (3-1 matches against the group). The top four teams in the final MPSF standings will host quarterfinal matches on April 15. The semifinals (Apr. 20) and championship (Apr. 22) matches will be played at the site of the highest remaining seed after the conclusion of quarterfinal play. NCAA Tournament selections will be announced on April 23.
Live Coverage โ Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB and on:
*Fri. vs. Hawai'i --- Live TV - Pac-12 Network; Live stream --- http://pac-12.com/mens-volleyball/event/2017/04/07/hawaii-ucla; 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
*Sat. vs. Hawai'i --- 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
This Week's NCAA Statsโ ย To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 3 nationally in hitting percentage (.336), No. 4 in aces per set (1.77),ย No. 6 in kills per set (12.96), ย No. 6 in set assists/set (12.21), No. 11 in blocks per set (2.38), No. 16 in oppt. hitting % (.239) and No. 26 in digs (8.28) ... Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah's .800 hitting percentage vs. Long Beach is the second-highest in the nation this season by a player with at least 15 hitting attempts in a three-set match ... ย Micah Ma'a, who had six aces at BYU, tied for the 2nd-most by a player this season in a five-set match, is currently ranked 20th in aces (0.37) ... Senior ย Mitch Stahl's nine-block effort at USC is tied for 4th-best in the nation for 3-set match ... Michael Fisher's eight block assists vs. Princeton ties him for 6th-most by a player this season in a three-set match.
By the Numbers - UCLA is 17-3 this season when serving up more aces than the opponent and has out aced opponents 46-7 over the last 5 matches ... Bruins are 16-1 record when winning the first set of a match ... UCLA's 13 aces vs. Harvard is tied for mostย in the nation in a three-set match this season ... The Bruins have been even or out aced their opponent in all but the Ohio State, 2nd match at BYU, vs. Long Beach matches ... 86 ย of the 159 ย team aces have come from Mitch Stahl (35), Micah Ma'a (26), Dylan Missry (25)... ย 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 10-2 at home and 6-5 in true road matches (1-0 neutral) ... 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 (7th nationally aces, his 0.53 avg. rates ahead of UCLA's all-time leader, Mark Williams' 0.51 mark) has at least one ace in each of last 16 matches he has played in ... 21 block assists in last ย 4 matches ... 2nd on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and 3rd on career block assist list.ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Jake Arnitz is this week's MPSF/Molten Player of the Week after hitting .450 in wins atย USC (season-high .632 on 19 swings) and tying his career-best with 21 kills at Cal Baptist ... Became first Bruin to hit the 20-kill mark this season vs. USC (20, .450) ... Last 5 matches (61-10-106, .481) ... ย Arnitz has upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .387 in 2017.ย
*Micah Ma'a sat out five matches to rest before returning toย action at Cal Baptist ... His stats in the last 5 matches he has played in: 21k-7-40, .350 with 7 aces, 25 digs, 19 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 .ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Hagen Smith set the team to a .382 hitting % over the 5 matches (244-70-455) Ma'a sat out, including season-high .560 mark v. Harvard ... Tied career high with 12k at Stanford (.429) ... 8th on all-time rally scoring school list for digs and 4th for set assists.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
ย *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 ... Played libero last 3 matches.ย
*Dylan Missry has 45 kills in last 5 matches (45-11-86, .395) ... Career-best 21k vs. CSUN ... Had career-best 4 aces at both USC and UC San Diego and has 13 aces in the last 4 matches. He has started the last 14 matches and hit over .300 in 9 of them...Multiple aces in 8 matches.ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Daenan Gyimah began the week 3rd in the MPSF in hitting % with a .494 and hit .800 vs. Long Beach with 1 error in 15 swings to go with a team-best 13 kills ... He has multiple blocks in 14/19 matches played this season.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Michael Fisher had season-high 11 kills at Cal Baptist ... His 8 block assists in three sets vs. Princeton ties for the 6th-most by a Div. I-II player this season in three-set match ... Played 43 sets this season.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Christian Hessenauer has started last 7 matches...Led team in kills in 4 of last 8 matches...82 kills in last 9 matches.ย ย ย
*Jackson Bantle is the only Bruin to appear in all 24 matches this season ... 5 aces in last 4 matches ... He is 10th on the all-time rally scoring digs list at UCLA, had season-highs of 14 digs vs. USC and 2 aces at Cal Baptist.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Oliver Martin ย is hitting .324 in last 2 matches (16-5-34) ... 12 starts this season ... Hit .213 in 2015, improved to .447 in '16 and is at .420 entering the UH matches...His block per set mark has gone from 0.4 to 0.9 last year and is at 0.9 again this season.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Eric Sprague has 10 kills in last 4 matches (10-0-15, 667) he ย has played in ... Saw action in 11 matches in '16 with 0.5 blocks per set and hit .403.ย ย ย
*Davis Gillett has seen action in 13/14 matches ... Played both as a libero and a serving specialist this season...Season-best 8 digs v. Concordia.
Honors โ ย Jake Arnitz was named the MPSF/Molten Player of the Week (Apr. 3) for his performance in wins at USC and Cal Baptist where he hit .450 with 333 kills. 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.
Coach Speraw: Year Five at UCLA โ 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.
ย ย ย
Elsewhere in MPSF: ย Apr. 6 - Cal Baptist at USC, BYU at UCSB; Apr. 7 - Stanford at UC Irvine, BYU at UCSB, Pepperdine at UCSD; Apr. 8 - CSUN at Long Beach St., USC at Cal Baptist, Pepperdine at UC Irvine, Stanford at UCSD.
2017 MPSF Standings (Apr. 3)ย ย ย ย
Long Beach Stateย 15-2ย ย ย 23-3
BYUย ย 14-2ย ย ย 21-3ย
Hawai'i ย 12-4ย ย ย 22-4ย
UC Irvine ย 11-5ย ย ย 17-6ย
UCLAย ย 10-6ย ย ย 17-7ย
Stanfordย ย ย 7-9ย ย ย 12-11
Pepperdineย ย ย 7-9ย ย ย 9-10ย
USC ย 6-10ย ย ย 12-13
UC Santa Barbara ย 5-11ย ย ย 10-14ย
CSUNย 5-12ย ย ย 12-14
UC San Diego ย 3-13ย ย ย 7-17
Cal Baptist ย 2-14ย ย ย 7-19
Playoff implications abound for the final regular season MPSF weekend of the season. UCLA clinches a homeย playoff spot (on Apr. 15) with a pair of wins over UH as at least the fourth seed. UCLA can also gain the three seed with two wins over Hawai'iย and at least one UC Irvine loss this weekendย in matches against either Stanford or Pepperdine. UCLA holds a two-way tie breaker over UC Irvine (5-3 sets), and in the event of a couple of wins over Hawai'i, would also hold the two-way edge over UH and win a potential three-way tie over UH and UCI (3-1 matches against the group). The top four teams in the final MPSF standings will host quarterfinal matches on April 15. The semifinals (Apr. 20) and championship (Apr. 22) matches will be played at the site of the highest remaining seed after the conclusion of quarterfinal play. NCAA Tournament selections will be announced on April 23.
Live Coverage โ Fans can follow matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB and on:
*Fri. vs. Hawai'i --- Live TV - Pac-12 Network; Live stream --- http://pac-12.com/mens-volleyball/event/2017/04/07/hawaii-ucla; 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
*Sat. vs. Hawai'i --- 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
This Week's NCAA Statsโ ย To begin the week, UCLA was listed No. 3 nationally in hitting percentage (.336), No. 4 in aces per set (1.77),ย No. 6 in kills per set (12.96), ย No. 6 in set assists/set (12.21), No. 11 in blocks per set (2.38), No. 16 in oppt. hitting % (.239) and No. 26 in digs (8.28) ... Individually, freshman Daenan Gyimah's .800 hitting percentage vs. Long Beach is the second-highest in the nation this season by a player with at least 15 hitting attempts in a three-set match ... ย Micah Ma'a, who had six aces at BYU, tied for the 2nd-most by a player this season in a five-set match, is currently ranked 20th in aces (0.37) ... Senior ย Mitch Stahl's nine-block effort at USC is tied for 4th-best in the nation for 3-set match ... Michael Fisher's eight block assists vs. Princeton ties him for 6th-most by a player this season in a three-set match.
By the Numbers - UCLA is 17-3 this season when serving up more aces than the opponent and has out aced opponents 46-7 over the last 5 matches ... Bruins are 16-1 record when winning the first set of a match ... UCLA's 13 aces vs. Harvard is tied for mostย in the nation in a three-set match this season ... The Bruins have been even or out aced their opponent in all but the Ohio State, 2nd match at BYU, vs. Long Beach matches ... 86 ย of the 159 ย team aces have come from Mitch Stahl (35), Micah Ma'a (26), Dylan Missry (25)... ย 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 10-2 at home and 6-5 in true road matches (1-0 neutral) ... 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 (7th nationally aces, his 0.53 avg. rates ahead of UCLA's all-time leader, Mark Williams' 0.51 mark) has at least one ace in each of last 16 matches he has played in ... 21 block assists in last ย 4 matches ... 2nd on the all-time school rally scoring list for aces and 3rd on career block assist list.ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Jake Arnitz is this week's MPSF/Molten Player of the Week after hitting .450 in wins atย USC (season-high .632 on 19 swings) and tying his career-best with 21 kills at Cal Baptist ... Became first Bruin to hit the 20-kill mark this season vs. USC (20, .450) ... Last 5 matches (61-10-106, .481) ... ย Arnitz has upped his hitting percentage from .227 as a freshman in 2015 to .313 in 2016 to .387 in 2017.ย
*Micah Ma'a sat out five matches to rest before returning toย action at Cal Baptist ... His stats in the last 5 matches he has played in: 21k-7-40, .350 with 7 aces, 25 digs, 19 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 .ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Hagen Smith set the team to a .382 hitting % over the 5 matches (244-70-455) Ma'a sat out, including season-high .560 mark v. Harvard ... Tied career high with 12k at Stanford (.429) ... 8th on all-time rally scoring school list for digs and 4th for set assists.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
ย *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 ... Played libero last 3 matches.ย
*Dylan Missry has 45 kills in last 5 matches (45-11-86, .395) ... Career-best 21k vs. CSUN ... Had career-best 4 aces at both USC and UC San Diego and has 13 aces in the last 4 matches. He has started the last 14 matches and hit over .300 in 9 of them...Multiple aces in 8 matches.ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Daenan Gyimah began the week 3rd in the MPSF in hitting % with a .494 and hit .800 vs. Long Beach with 1 error in 15 swings to go with a team-best 13 kills ... He has multiple blocks in 14/19 matches played this season.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Michael Fisher had season-high 11 kills at Cal Baptist ... His 8 block assists in three sets vs. Princeton ties for the 6th-most by a Div. I-II player this season in three-set match ... Played 43 sets this season.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Christian Hessenauer has started last 7 matches...Led team in kills in 4 of last 8 matches...82 kills in last 9 matches.ย ย ย
*Jackson Bantle is the only Bruin to appear in all 24 matches this season ... 5 aces in last 4 matches ... He is 10th on the all-time rally scoring digs list at UCLA, had season-highs of 14 digs vs. USC and 2 aces at Cal Baptist.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Oliver Martin ย is hitting .324 in last 2 matches (16-5-34) ... 12 starts this season ... Hit .213 in 2015, improved to .447 in '16 and is at .420 entering the UH matches...His block per set mark has gone from 0.4 to 0.9 last year and is at 0.9 again this season.ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
*Eric Sprague has 10 kills in last 4 matches (10-0-15, 667) he ย has played in ... Saw action in 11 matches in '16 with 0.5 blocks per set and hit .403.ย ย ย
*Davis Gillett has seen action in 13/14 matches ... Played both as a libero and a serving specialist this season...Season-best 8 digs v. Concordia.
Honors โ ย Jake Arnitz was named the MPSF/Molten Player of the Week (Apr. 3) for his performance in wins at USC and Cal Baptist where he hit .450 with 333 kills. 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.
Coach Speraw: Year Five at UCLA โ 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.
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Elsewhere in MPSF: ย Apr. 6 - Cal Baptist at USC, BYU at UCSB; Apr. 7 - Stanford at UC Irvine, BYU at UCSB, Pepperdine at UCSD; Apr. 8 - CSUN at Long Beach St., USC at Cal Baptist, Pepperdine at UC Irvine, Stanford at UCSD.
2017 MPSF Standings (Apr. 3)ย ย ย ย
Long Beach Stateย 15-2ย ย ย 23-3
BYUย ย 14-2ย ย ย 21-3ย
Hawai'i ย 12-4ย ย ย 22-4ย
UC Irvine ย 11-5ย ย ย 17-6ย
UCLAย ย 10-6ย ย ย 17-7ย
Stanfordย ย ย 7-9ย ย ย 12-11
Pepperdineย ย ย 7-9ย ย ย 9-10ย
USC ย 6-10ย ย ย 12-13
UC Santa Barbara ย 5-11ย ย ย 10-14ย
CSUNย 5-12ย ย ย 12-14
UC San Diego ย 3-13ย ย ย 7-17
Cal Baptist ย 2-14ย ย ย 7-19
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/ Men's VolleyballFriday, May 01
Sunday, April 26
Friday, April 24
Thursday, April 23