THIS WEEK — No. 3-ranked UCLA (19-5, 7-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) welcomes No. 11-ranked UC Santa Barbara (9-7) for a non-league match to be played on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins will then head over to USC (6-16,2-6) for their final regular season road match of the season. Crosstown Cup points will be at stake (5 pts. to match winner) which the Bruins currently lead 75-35 in the annual all sport head-to-head battle. UCLA, which has won its last four matches, has not played on the road since a Mar. 3 loss at BYU.    
NCAA / MPSF STATS - Deanan Gyimah began the week leading the nation in hitting percentage at .522 and is 7th in blocks/set (1.16). UCLA is 3rd nationally in hitting percentage coming into the week (.347). Micah Ma'a is 3rd in the NCAA and 1st in the MPSF in assists / set at 10.76. The Bruin team is 5th in the NCAA in aces (1.81) per set and third in the nation in kills per set (13.30).
RANKING - UCLA is in the No. 3 spot in this week's AVCA poll. 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. UCLA has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AVCA poll at some point in each of the past five seasons.
OPPOSITION - No. 11-ranked UC Santa Barbara (9-7) joined the Big West Conference (tied for third, 2-2) this season after leaving the MPSF. Last year, the Bruins registered a pair of sweeps over the Gauchos. Jake Arnitz had 10 kills to pace the attack in the 25-17, 25-20, 25-20 win in Pauley. UCLA outhit UCSB .344 to .195. In the rematch at Santa Barbara, UCLA prevailed 25-22, 25-22, 25-17 behind a balanced attack led by Daenan Gyimah (12 kills), Arnitz (11) and JT Hatch (10). The Bruins hit .420 in that win to .274 for host team.
USC (6-16, 2-6) split its last two matches with a win over Stanford (3-1) and a loss last weekend to UC Irvine (0-3). In the first matchup of the season with USC, the Bruins produced a .458 hitting percentage while securing a 25-15, 25-18, 25-19 win on Feb. 14. Dylan Missry led UCLA with 12 kills (.429) and Christian Hessenauer added 11 kills (.412). Hessenauer also registered five block assists to tie Daenan Gyimah for team-high honors. UCLA had 9.0 total blocks to 7.5 by USC. The Bruins had six aces to one for the Trojans.
LAST MATCH - In its last match before the exam break, UCLA topped Grand Canyon 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21 on Mar. 16. The Bruins used a season-high 16.0 total team blocks to put away the Antelopes and improve their home record this season to 13-1. Daenan Gyimah led the way with eight blocks, including a career-best two block solos. Christian Hessenauer equaled his career-best with six block assists.
COACH SPERAW - John Speraw, in his sixth season in Westwood, achieved victory No. 100 as head coach of the Bruins earlier this season in a win over Penn State and then career-win No. 300 in a five-set victory over Ohio State in matches played at the AVCA Showcase in Pauley. 
TOURNAMENT NEWS - The 2018 MPSF Championship Tournament begins with seeds two, three and four hosting quarterfinal matches 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 in its semifinal match. The Championship contest will take place 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). Automatic bids to the NCAA Tournament also go the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), the Big West Conference and Conference Carolinas. There are two at-large bids to this year's tournament. The NCAA Championship bracket will be announced on Apr. 22 at 10 a.m. at www.NCAA.com 
BY THE NUMBERS
• The Bruins are 13-1 this season in home matches and play three of the final four in the friendly confines of Pauley Pavilion or Wooden Center.
• Christian Hessenauer has averaged 14.3 kills per match and Jake Arnitz has averaged 10.1 kills per match during the last four matches.
• The Bruins have held nine 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, George Mason .123).
• Daenan Gyimah registered a career-high 17 kills in the big home win over Pepperdine (Mar. 7) while hitting .889 (17-1-18) ... Gyimah began the week leading the nation in hitting percentage at .522 and was seventh in the NCAA in blocks/set (1.16).
• UCLA has hit over .400 in nine matches this season, all wins --- . 493 v. George Mason, .412 v. Pepperdine, .458 v. USC, .494 at Grand Canyon, .400 at Concordia, .430 v. CSUN, .455 v. UC Irvine, .414 v. Princeton, .403 v. King.
• Senior Jake Arnitz has hit .434 while starting in the last four matches (45-9-83) with 22 digs.
• The Bruins hold a 36-16 advantage in service aces over the opponent in the last 6 matches ... The Bruins tied the school record with 15 aces in the match vs. Princeton earlier this season and also had tied the school mark for aces in a set, with seven, in that same match vs. Princeton.
• UCLA is 19-0 when it hits for a higher percentage than its opponent ... The only matches UCLA has had an opponent hit for a higher % were in in losses to BYU (.318/.214), Pepperdine (.455/.203), Hawai'i (.236/.209) and Long Beach State (twice: home-.408/.315; away- .343/.191).
MPSF Standings
BYU    8-0,18-4
UCLA     7-2,19-5
Pepperdine    6-3,13-6
Grand Canyon    3-6,16-8 
Concordia    3-6,12-13
USC    2-6,6-16
Stanford    1-7,4-17
AVCA MVB Coaches Poll
1. Long Beach St. (25) 375  19-0
2. BYU   347    18-4
3. UCLA  321    19-5
4. UC Irvine  291    17-5
5. Pepperdine  270    13-6
6. Loyola-Chicago  255    19-4
7. Hawai'i  222    13-6
8. CSUN   191    12-7
9. Ohio State  178    17-4
10. Lewis  162    16-8
11. UC Santa Barbara 111    9-7
12. Ball State 98    13-11
13. Grand Canyon  82    16-8
14. Concordia  46    12-13
15. Fort Wayne  23    15-9