THIS WEEK — No. 3 UCLA (14-4, 3-1 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), which will host the 2018 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship in May, travels to Stanford (3-13, 1-4) on Thursday at 7 p.m. and then to No. 5 BYU (12-4, 5-0) on Saturday night at 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT for a pair of MPSF matches.
Last season, the Bruins dropped a five-setter at Stanford in the only meeting of the year. The Cardinal outhit the Bruins .356 to .333 and came back to grab sets four and five in the win. JT Hatch led UCLA with 19 kills while Dylan Missry added 13. UCLA has come up short on its last two visits to the Farm, falling in four sets in 2016.
BYU swept the Bruins last season in a pair of matches played in Provo. The Cougars won the first meeting in five sets. UCLA had the better of the blocking battle 12.5 to 7.0, the ace battle six to four and even out hit BYU .326 to .268, but came up short on the scoreboard. Missry led UCLA with 13 kills and four Bruins added 12 kills each in a balanced attack. The Cougars came back on night two to sweep the Bruins, winning 31-29 in the third set. UCLA hit just .198 in that contest and was out blocked 6.5 to 1.0. UCLA's last win against the Cougars, in Provo, came in the 2009 season.
MATCH DAY: Thursday
No. 3 UCLA at Stanford
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Maples Pavilion
Live Stats: http://www.sidearmstats.com/stanford/mvball/
Video: http://pac-12.com/live/stanford-university
MATCH DAY: Saturday
No. 3 UCLA at No.5 BYU
Time: 6:00 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT
Site: Smith Fieldhouse
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=198285
Video: http://www.wccsports.com/ot/upcoming-events.html
NCAA STATS - Daenan Gyimah leads the nation in hitting % at .500 and is 10th in blocks/set (1.11). UCLA is fourth nationally in hitting percentage coming into the week (.343). Micah Ma'a is second in the NCAA in assists / set at 10.92 and 16th in service aces / set (0.45). The Bruin team is fourth in the NCAA in aces (1.85) per set.
RANKING - UCLA dipped to No. 3 in this week's AVCA poll after spending six weeks at No. 2. The Bruins were No. 4 in the AVCA Preseason Poll and second in the Coaches' Preseason MPSF poll behind BYU. In 2017, UCLA finished fifth in the MPSF and was No. 6 in the final AVCA National Poll. The 14-1 start to the season was the best by a Bruin team since the 2005 edition secured 15 wins in its first 16 matches in a season which culminated in a loss in the NCAA Championship match to Pepperdine. UCLA has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AVCA poll at some point in each of the past five seasons.
A LOOK AT THE OPPOSITION - Stanford has been beset with injuries this season and is coming off four (home-Feb. 21) and five-set (at Provo-Feb. 24) losses to BYU this past week. BYU has won its last seven matches in a row. The Cougars own a road win at Ohio State this season, but have dropped home court decisions to Loyola-Chicago and UC Santa Barbara.
NEW LOOK LEAGUE - BYU leads the MPSF entering the week with a 5-0 record. Pepperdine and UCLA are tied for second at 3-1. Concordia and Grand Canyon have been added to the MPSF to replace teams (Long Beach St., UC Santa Barbara, CSUN, UCSD, Hawai'i, UC Irvine) which left to form the Big West MVB Conference. Each MPSF team has 12 conference matches on its 2018 schedule. The 2018 MPSF Championship Tournament begins with seeds two, three and four hosting a quarterfinal match on April 14. The semis are April 19, on the home floor of the No. 1 seed. The top seed will host the lowest remaining available seed. The Championship match will take place on April 21, at the same site, with the winner earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament (at UCLA on May 3 and 5 in Pauley Pavilion.)
THIS WEEK IN THE MPSF - Mar 1 - Pepperdine at BYU, UCLA at Stanford; Mar. 2 - Concordia at Hawai'i; Mar. 3 - Pepperdine at Stanford, UCLA at BYU; Mar. 4 - Concordia at Hawai'i
COACH SPERAW - John Speraw achieved victory No. 100 as head coach of the Bruins earlier this season in a win over No. 9 Penn State (25-15, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22) and then career-win No. 300 in a five-set victory over No. 3 Ohio State (25-18, 22-25, 27-25, 24-26, 16-14) in matches played at the 2018 AVCA Men's Volleyball Showcase in Pauley Pavilion.
LAST WEEK - UCLA dropped a straight set decision in an MPSF match at Pepperdine last Friday. The Waves posted opponent bests for hitting % (.455) and blocks (10.0) in the win. Jake Arnitz came off the bench to top UCLA with 11 kills. JT Hatch had eight (.500) kills . The Bruins hit .315 in last Wednesday's loss to top-ranked Long Beach State, which was the highest opponent hitting percentage this season by a team against the 49ers. JT Hatch (13 kills) hit .379 and Oliver Martin (8 kills) hit .583 with two blocks. Grant Maleski added 13 kills in his first starting assignment.
BY THE NUMBERS
• The Bruins have held eight opponents this season under .200 hitting % for the match (King .103, Ohio St. .113, Penn St. .186, UCSD .160, Princeton .123, .195 at Concordia, .179 at Grand Canyon, USC .141).
• The Bruins hold a 42-16 advantage in service aces over the opponent in the last eight matches ... The Bruins tied the school record with 15 aces in the match vs. Princeton earlier this season and also had tied school mark for aces in a set, with seven, vs. Princeton.
• The Bruins are hitting .362 over the last 9 matches (429k - 120e - 853 ta). UCLA was averaging 11 hitting errors per contest in the previous six matches prior to having 24 at Long Beach State in a loss on Feb. 17. It has averaged 14.5 in the last two matches.
• Ohio State is the lone opponent to record more aces than the Bruins in a match this season.
• UCLA is 14-0 when it hits for a higher percentage than its opponent this season ... The only matches UCLA has had an opponent hit for a higher % were in it losses to Pepperdine (.455/.203), Hawai'i (.236/.209) and Long Beach State (twice: home-.408/.315; away- .343/.191).
• This season will mark the 15th time UCLA has played host to the NCAA men's volleyball championship - 1970 (UCLA champ), 1971 (UCLA), 1975 (UCLA), 1977 (USC), 1979 (UCLA), 1984 (UCLA), 1985 (Pepperdine), 1987 (UCLA), 1989 (UCLA), 1993 (UCLA), 1996 (UCLA), 1999 (BYU), 2005 (Pepperdine), 2013 (UC Irvine). The Bruins have captured nine NCAA championships in Pauley..
• Five true freshmen have seen action so far this season and three made key contributions in home win over UCI - MB Ian Parish (4 kills), L Garland Peed (4 digs), Opp Colin Bailey (3 kills, 3 blocks). Redshirt freshman Sam Kobrine saw his first career action against Hawai'i (Jan. 26). True frosh Grant Maleski's first appearance came at Concordia (Feb. 8), while Alex Parks debuted at Long Beach (Feb. 17).
• Christian Hessenauer has led or tied for the team lead in kills in nine matches ---- 12-NJIT, 13-UC Irvine, 11-Penn St., 19-Ohio St., 20-at UHaw.2, 15-at UC Irvine, 17 v. CSUN, 12 at Concordia, 14 at Grand Canyon ... Hessenauer registered 20 kills in the win at Hawai'i to tie his career-best number set against Long Beach State in 2015 and is the most by a Bruin player this season.
• JT Hatch, at .346 so far this season, hit a career-best .328 in 2017 and had a season-high 24 kills and 16 digs at Pepperdine last season.
• Jake Arnitz led the Bruins last week with 11 kills on 26 swings at Pepperdine ... He is moving up all-time school charts, since rally scoring began in 2001 - 6th in kills, 8th in total points and 5th in total attacks.
• Daenan Gyimah led Bruins with a .494 hitting % last season and was honorable mention All-MPSF pick; a member of All-MPSF Freshman team; played for the Canadian U21 National Team at the 2017 FIVB Volleyball Men's U21 World Championship in the Czech Republic.
• Micah Ma'a was an honorable mention All-MPSF selection and a member of the MPSF All-Academic team in 2017.
• Ma'a joined Dylan Missry on US Men's Volleyball Jr National Team at 2017 FIVB Volleyball U21 World Championship in Czech Republic last summer.
• Dylan Missry, who had a season-high 13 kills at UC Irvine, posted career-high numbers for service aces (5) and digs (10) in the first meeting of the season over UC Irvine. He led the team with 12 kills in the match vs. USC.
AVCA Coaches Poll (Feb. 26)
1. Long Beach St. (25) 375 14-0
2. Hawai'i 345 9-2
3. UCLA 311 14-4
4. UC Irvine 302 12-4
5. BYU 272 12-4
6. Loyola-Chicago 236 12-3
7. Lewis 222 11-4
8. Pepperdine 209 9-3
9. Ohio State 190 11-4
10. Penn State 133 9-3
11. Ball State 85 9-7
12. CSUN 81 8-5
13. Concordia 67 8-6
13. Grand Canyon 67 12-6
15. UC Santa Barbara 53 5-5
rec. votes - George Mason, Ft. Wayne, UCSD