The No. 3 UCLA men's volleyball team (3-0) will square off with No. 5 UC Irvine (2-0) on Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m.. The match will be televised by the Pac-12 Network. On Friday night, UCLA hosts UC Santa Barbara (2-1) at 7 p.m. That match will be streamed at http://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2. An internet radio broadcast of both matches will be available at http://ucla.leanplayer.com/
The 'Eaters, who have moved into the Big West this season, finished in fourth in the MPSF a year ago and ended UCLA's season in an MPSF quarterfinal match last year. UC Irvine opened the 2018 season with wins over No. 11 Lewis (3-0) and No. 7 Loyola-Chicago (3-1). UC Irvine beat the Bruins in 2 of the 3 meetings last season. UCLA topped UCI 3-0 at home (Daenan Gyimah led with 14 kills) and then lost both road meetings (3-2 in regular season match-Christian Hessenauer led with 16 kills) and (3-1 in MPSF Quarterfinals-Jake Arnitz led with 18 kills).
UC Santa Barbara (2-1 on the year) has also moved to the Big West Conference and opened the season in the annual Gaucho Tournament with wins over NJIT (3-1) and Stanford (3-0) and a loss to St. Francis (1-3). The Gauchos were tied for ninth in the MPSF last season. UCLA swept UCSB in both meetings last season (Arnitz led with 10 kills at UCLA and Gyimah 12 kills at UCSB).
UCLA, which will host the 2018 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship in May, opened play in the 2018 season last week with three wins --- on Wednesday 25-17, 25-22, 25-20 win over New Jersey Institute of Technology from the Eastern Intercollegiate VB Association (EIVA), the Bruins then topped King University from Conference Carolinas 25-17, 25-16, 25-11, on Friday night, and McKendree from the Midwest Intercollegiate VB Association (MIVA) 25-21, 25-22, 29-27 on Saturday night, in the Wooden Volleyball Classic.
Jake Arnitz led the Bruin attack last week by totaling 31 kills over the three matches while hitting .390 on 59 swings. He added four aces and four blocks. Micah Ma'a set the Bruins to a .379 team hitting percentage for the week with a 11.0 assist average per set.
UCLA moved up to No. 3 in this week's AVCA poll after being picked No. 4 in the AVCA Preseason Poll and second in the Coaches' Preseason Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) poll. In 2017, UCLA finished fifth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) standings and was No. 6 in the final AVCA National Poll. The Bruins return starting outside hitter Jake Arnitz, a second-team AVCA All-America selection the past two seasons and a pre-season first-team All-America selection by Off the Block. A bevy of experienced players also return in setter Micah Ma'a (19 starts and a second-team preseason Off the Block All-America choice), outside hitter/ libero JT Hatch (20 starts and an honorable mention preseason All-America choice by Off the Block), outside hitter Dylan Missry (17 starts), middle blocker Oliver Martin (13 starts), middle blocker Daenan Gyimah (17 starts and an honorable mention preseason Off the Block All-America selection) and opposite Christian Hessenauer (9 starts).
THIS WEEK'S AVCA POLL - Jan. 8
1. Ohio State (18) 365 1-0
2. Long Beach St. (5) 352 4-0
3. UCLA (1) 319 3-0
4. Hawai'i (1) 305 3-0
5. UC Irvine 273 2-0
6. BYU 235 1-1
7. Loyola-Chicago 189 1-1
8. CSUN 181 3-0
9. Penn State 169 0-0
10. Pepperdine 159 1-0
11. Lewis 155 0-2
12. USC 78 3-1
13. Grand Canyon 66 3-0
14. Ball State 62 2-0
15. St. Francis 43 2-2
Also rec. votes - Stanford, Princeton, UCSB, UC San Diego
The 'Eaters, who have moved into the Big West this season, finished in fourth in the MPSF a year ago and ended UCLA's season in an MPSF quarterfinal match last year. UC Irvine opened the 2018 season with wins over No. 11 Lewis (3-0) and No. 7 Loyola-Chicago (3-1). UC Irvine beat the Bruins in 2 of the 3 meetings last season. UCLA topped UCI 3-0 at home (Daenan Gyimah led with 14 kills) and then lost both road meetings (3-2 in regular season match-Christian Hessenauer led with 16 kills) and (3-1 in MPSF Quarterfinals-Jake Arnitz led with 18 kills).
UC Santa Barbara (2-1 on the year) has also moved to the Big West Conference and opened the season in the annual Gaucho Tournament with wins over NJIT (3-1) and Stanford (3-0) and a loss to St. Francis (1-3). The Gauchos were tied for ninth in the MPSF last season. UCLA swept UCSB in both meetings last season (Arnitz led with 10 kills at UCLA and Gyimah 12 kills at UCSB).
UCLA, which will host the 2018 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship in May, opened play in the 2018 season last week with three wins --- on Wednesday 25-17, 25-22, 25-20 win over New Jersey Institute of Technology from the Eastern Intercollegiate VB Association (EIVA), the Bruins then topped King University from Conference Carolinas 25-17, 25-16, 25-11, on Friday night, and McKendree from the Midwest Intercollegiate VB Association (MIVA) 25-21, 25-22, 29-27 on Saturday night, in the Wooden Volleyball Classic.
Jake Arnitz led the Bruin attack last week by totaling 31 kills over the three matches while hitting .390 on 59 swings. He added four aces and four blocks. Micah Ma'a set the Bruins to a .379 team hitting percentage for the week with a 11.0 assist average per set.
UCLA moved up to No. 3 in this week's AVCA poll after being picked No. 4 in the AVCA Preseason Poll and second in the Coaches' Preseason Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) poll. In 2017, UCLA finished fifth in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) standings and was No. 6 in the final AVCA National Poll. The Bruins return starting outside hitter Jake Arnitz, a second-team AVCA All-America selection the past two seasons and a pre-season first-team All-America selection by Off the Block. A bevy of experienced players also return in setter Micah Ma'a (19 starts and a second-team preseason Off the Block All-America choice), outside hitter/ libero JT Hatch (20 starts and an honorable mention preseason All-America choice by Off the Block), outside hitter Dylan Missry (17 starts), middle blocker Oliver Martin (13 starts), middle blocker Daenan Gyimah (17 starts and an honorable mention preseason Off the Block All-America selection) and opposite Christian Hessenauer (9 starts).
THIS WEEK'S AVCA POLL - Jan. 8
1. Ohio State (18) 365 1-0
2. Long Beach St. (5) 352 4-0
3. UCLA (1) 319 3-0
4. Hawai'i (1) 305 3-0
5. UC Irvine 273 2-0
6. BYU 235 1-1
7. Loyola-Chicago 189 1-1
8. CSUN 181 3-0
9. Penn State 169 0-0
10. Pepperdine 159 1-0
11. Lewis 155 0-2
12. USC 78 3-1
13. Grand Canyon 66 3-0
14. Ball State 62 2-0
15. St. Francis 43 2-2
Also rec. votes - Stanford, Princeton, UCSB, UC San Diego