Friday, August 25
Honolulu, HI
7:45 PM
UCLA
vs
San Diego
The Bruins return eight letterwinners from a year ago and bring in eight newcomers.
#13 Bruins Open 2017 Season in Hawai'i
August 23, 2017 | Women's Volleyball
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Match 1
Friday, August 25
7:45 p.m. PT
#13 UCLA vs. #22 San Diego
Live Stats
Match 2
Saturday, August 26
7:45 p.m. PT
#13 UCLA vs. Marquette
Live Stats
Match 3
Sunday, August 27
8 p.m. PT
#13 UCLA at #20 Hawai'i
Live Stats
All Matches at Stan Sheriff Center (Honolulu, Hawai'i)
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UCLA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL OPENS 2017 SEASON IN HAWAI'I
The 2017 UCLA women's volleyball season gets underway this weekend, as the 13th-ranked Bruins head to Honolulu for the Texaco Rainbow Wahine Invitational. UCLA will face three teams which made the postseason a year ago, taking on 22nd-ranked San Diego on Friday at 7:45 p.m. PT, Marquette on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. PT and #20 Hawai'i on Sunday at 8 p.m. PT. Live stats will be available for all three matches at UCLABruins.com.
BUECHLER NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-PAC-12 TEAM
Senior Reily Buechler was named to the Preseason All-Pac-12 Conference Team, as announced on Aug. 16. One of 14 members of the team voted on by the conference's coaches, Buechler is one of eight returners on this year's UCLA squad. She is coming off a season in which she led the team with 3.34 kills and 3.78 points per set, ranking eighth among Pac-12 players in kps. Buechler was named Third Team VolleyballMag.com All-American, AVCA Pacific South All-Region Honorable Mention and All-Pac-12 Conference Honorable Mention (third year in a row). Buechler tied for second on the team with 21 service aces and was third with 2.37 digs per set. She had 22 double-figure kills matches, 13 double-figure digs contests and 10 double-doubles, notching a pair of those in the Regional Semifinal and Final a year ago.
BRUINS IN THE POLLS
UCLA is ranked 13th in the AVCA Preseason Poll, receiving 866 points. Eight teams ranked in the current Top 25 are on the Bruins' schedule (#2 Stanford, #3 Washington, #5 Nebraska, #18 Oregon, #20 Hawai'i, #22 San Diego, #23 Utah and #24 Arizona), while two others, USC and Washington State, are also receiving votes. In the Pac-12 Conference Preseason Poll, UCLA is fifth, receiving 83 points.
BRUINS' RECRUITING CLASS TABBED THIRD IN THE NATION
The seven-player 2017 UCLA recruiting class has been tabbed as the third best in the nation in rankings released by VolleyballMag.com. The Bruins' incoming class consists of libero Anne Crouch (Burlingame, Calif./Saint Ignatius HS/Encore Volleyball Club), setter Katie Jacobs (Stevenson Ranch, Calif./West Ranch HS/Legacy Volleyball Club), outside hitter Alexis Light (Sloughhouse, Calif./Pleasant Grove HS/Five Starz Club), outside hitter Mac May (Dubuque, Iowa/Wahlert Catholic HS/Club Iowa Juniors), outside hitter Jenny Mosser (Lakeville, Minn./Lakeville South HS/MN Select), middle blocker Emily Ryan (Bethesda, Md./The Academy of the Holy Cross/Metro Volleyball Club) and middle blocker Sabrina Smith (Moraga, Calif./Campolindo HS/Encore Volleyball Club). In addition, UCLA added a two-time AVCA All-American transfer from Loyola Marymount, Sarah Sponcil.ย
The eight newcomers will equal the eight returners from the 2016 squad, senior outside hitter Reily Buechler, junior defensive specialist/libero Zana Muno, junior middle blocker Kyra Rogers, junior defensive specialist Taylor Schlener, sophomore middle blocker Madeleine Gates, sophomore setter Kylie Miller, sophomore outside hitter Jamie Robbins and sophomore defensive specialist/libero Savvy Simo.
NEWS AND NOTES
Senior Reily Buechler enters the 2017 season in 26th place in UCLA history in kills at 1,145. Next up on the list are Nana Meriwether (25th, 1,157), Marissa Hatchett (24th, 1,168), Samantha Shaver (23rd, 1,169) and Jenny Johnson (22nd, 1,212). Buechler's next match will also be her 100th played at UCLA ... senior Sarah Sponcil is seven kills away from 1,200 for her career and 37 digs away from 1,000 ... the Bruins led all Pac-12 teams a year ago in assists (13.63) and digs (17.88) per set, while also ranking second in opponent hitting percentage (.177) and kills per set (14.34) ... nationally, UCLA was sixth in aps and dps and 13th in kps.
SCOUTING THE SAN DIEGO TOREROS
San Diego returns 12 letterwinners from last year's team which went 24-6 and finished second in the West Coast Conference with a 15-3 mark. The Toreros fell in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, losing in five sets to Baylor at Pauley Pavilion. USD averaged 14.93 kills, 1.21 aces, 13.93 digs and 1.94 blocks per set a year ago, posting a .269 hitting percentage. The Toreros lose their top two leaders in kps, but return four who averaged at least 2.00 kps. Junior Lauren Fuller and sophomore Thana Fayad each averaged 2.22 kps. Senior Kristen Gengenbacher (7.67 assists per set) and sophomore Anna Newsome (5.23 aps) split the setting duties a year ago. Junior Addie Picha was tops in bps in 2016 at 1.07. The Bruins are 8-1 all-time against the Toreros, but San Diego won for the first time against UCLA last Sept. 10, winning in four sets at USD. UCLA is 4-0 in neutral-site matches against San Diego.
SCOUTING THE MARQUETTE GOLDEN EAGLES
Marquette brings back six letterwinners from a 2016 team which went 23-9 and fell in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament to Washington State. The Golden Eagles averaged 13.42 kills, 1.25 aces, 15.88 digs and 2.33 blocks per set last season, recording a .260 hitting percentage. Marquette loses two of its top three producers in kps, but returns junior Jenna Rosenthal, who averaged 2.30 kps and a team-high 1.22 bps. The Golden Eagles will also have to bring in to the fold a new setter and libero, as both graduated. The Bruins will face Marquette for the first time.
SCOUTING THE HAWAI'I RAINBOW WAHINE
Hawai'i returns 12 letterwinners from last season's squad which went 23-6 and won the Big West Conference title with a 15-1 record. The Rainbow Wahine advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, defeating USC in five sets in round one, before falling to Minnesota in three, just as the Bruins did in the Regional Final. Hawai'i averaged 14.00 kills, 1.44 aces, 15.16 digs and 2.67 blocks per set in 2016, posting a .272 hitting percentage. Two of the top four kps leaders return in junior McKenna Granato (2.90) and senior Emily Maglio (2.38). Sophomore Norene Iosia quarterbacked the offense last season and averaged 10.33 assists per set. Senior Savanah Kahakai led last year's team with 4.12 dps, while Maglio was tops with 1.33 bps. The Bruins have won three straight against Hawai'i to even up the all-time series at 37 apiece. Last year, UCLA swept Hawai'i to move to 25-28 all-time in Honolulu versus the home team. The Bruins and the Rainbow Wahine have played each other at least once a season since 1974, the first year of women's volleyball at Hawai'i.
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