THIS WEEK — No. 5-ranked UCLA (20-6, 7-3 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), which will host the 2018 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship in May, will wrap up the regular season with a pair of MPSF home matches this week in Pauley Pavilion against Stanford (6-17, 3-7) on Thursday and No. 2 BYU (19-5, 9-1) on Saturday. UCLA, which has posted a 14-1 record in home matches this season, will honor the five seniors - Oliver Martin, Eric Matheis, JT Hatch, Jake Arnitz, Christian Hessenauer - prior to Saturday's match. Both matches will be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

MATCH DAY: Thursday
No. 5 UCLA vs Stanford
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Pauley Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Network
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
Video:https://pac-12.com/mens-volleyball/event/2018/04/05/stanford-ucla
Audio: http://ucla.leanplayer.com/

MATCH DAY: Saturday
No. 5 UCLA vs No. 2 BYU
Time: 7 p.m.
Site: Pauley Pavilion
TV: Pac-12 Network
Live Stats:http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
Video: https://pac-12.com/mens-volleyball/event/2018/04/07/brigham-young-ucla
Audio: http://ucla.leanplayer.com/

In the first matchup of the season with Stanford on Mar. 1, the Bruins produced a .319 hitting percentage while securing a 25-12, 25-16, 18-25, 25-21 win. Christian Hessenauer was the lone Bruin in double-digit kills, with 16 (.387) and added a season-high tying six block assists. Daenan Gyimah led UCLA with seven block assists. UCLA outblocked the Cardinal 11.5 to 2.0 and recorded 10 aces to three for Stanford.

In the first meeting at BYU this season on Mar. 3, the Bruins went down 23-25, 21-25, 20-25. No Bruin recorded double-figure kills. Christian Hessenauer (.000) and Dylan Missry (.188) each registered eight kills to top the Bruins who were outhit by the Cougars .214 to .318. BYU also won the battle at the nets 10.0 total team blocks to 5.5. Daenan Gyimah and Micah Ma'a each registered three block assists in the match. UCLA recorded a season-low one service ace in the contest to three for BYU.

NCAA / MPSF STATS - Deanan Gyimah began the week leading the nation in hitting percentage at .523 and was listed sixth in blocks/set (1.16). UCLA is third nationally in hitting percentage coming into the week (.352). Micah Ma'a is third in the NCAA and first in the MPSF in assists / set at 10.71. The Bruin team is fourth in the NCAA in aces (1.81) per set and third in the nation in kills per set (13.22).

RANKING - UCLA is in the No. 5 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 - Stanford saw setter Paul Bischoff and hitter Jordan Ewert return to the lineup last week after sitting out significant time due to injury and the Cardinal picked up a pair of MPSF wins over Concordia (3-1) and Grand Canyon (3-2).
No. 2 BYU, which enters the week having won 14 of its last 15 matches, plays at No. 4 Pepperdine on Thursday before heading to Westwood. The Cougars were upset by Concordia last Thursday (2-3) and then defeated Grand Canyon in three straight last Saturday in a pair of home matches. The Cougars have won the last seven meetings against the Bruins with the most recent UCLA win coming in Westwood on Apr. 12, 2014 in four sets.
 
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 Pavilion. 

POST-SEASON FORMATS - 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 1, 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 14-1 this season (4-0 in MPSF play) in home matches and play the final two matches of the season in Pauley. UCLA is 6-5 overall on the road, 3-3 in MPSF play.
• UCLA is hitting .370 in 15 home matches this season to .207 for opponents and has lost just 11 sets this season with eight sweeps.
• The Bruins have held 10 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, UCSB .099).
• Daenan Gyimah registered a career-high 17 kills in the big home win over Pepperdine (Mar. 7) while hitting .889 (17-1-18), just shy of the Bruin school record.
• UCLA has hit over .400 in 10 matches this season, all wins --- .446 v. UCSB, . 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.
• Jake Arnitz has hit .372 while starting in the last six matches (66-18-129) with 33 digs ... Arnitz is moving up all-time school charts, since rally scoring began in 2001 - 4th in kills, 7th in total points and 4th in total attacks.
• The Bruins hold a 50-26 advantage in service aces over the opponent in the last 8 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.
• In the last six matches, UCLA is hitting .404 (295k-66e-567ta), opponents are hitting .207 (230k-111e-576ta) during that period.
• UCLA is 20-1 when it hits for a higher percentage than its opponent ... The only matches UCLA has had an opponent hit for a higher percentage were in losses to BYU (.318/.214), Pepperdine (.455/.203), Hawai'i (.236/.209), Long Beach State (twice: home-.408/.315; away- .343/.191).
• The 14-1 start this season was the best by a Bruin team since the 2005 squad, which advanced to the NCAA final, began 15-1.
• 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.
• Micah Ma'a, 11th in NCAA (0.47) in aces/set to begin the week, has moved into a tie for second at UCLA all-time in aces - he ranked 25th in NCAA last season (0.33) ... Ma'a has 12 aces in his last four matches ... He recorded his season-high with 11 digs in the win over Pepperdine.
• Five true freshmen have seen action so far this season and three made key contributions in the 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 team in kills in 16 matches --12-NJIT, 13-UCI, 11-Penn St., 19-Ohio St., 20-at UHaw.2, 15-at UCI, 17 v. CSUN, 12 at Concordia, 14 at G. Canyon, 16 at Stanford, 8 at BYU, 10 v. G. Mason, 18 vs. Concordia, 16 vs. G. Canyon, 11 v. UCSB, 22 at USC.
• Head Coach John Speraw secured victory milestones (100 wins at UCLA- vs. Penn State; and 300 career wins vs. Ohio State) at this season's AVCA Showcase ... His current records are 313-170 overall as a collegiate head coach and 114-59 as head coach at UCLA.
• JT Hatch, who has started at libero (10 matches) and at outside hitter (15) this season, is swinging at a .329 clip so far in 2018. He hit a career-best .328 in 2017 and had a season-high 24 kills and 16 digs at Pepperdine last season.

MPSF Standings (4/4) -- BYU 9-1, Pepperdine 7-3, UCLA 7-3, Concordia 4-7, USC 3-7, Stanford 3-7, Grand Canyon 3-8

AVCA Coaches Poll (4/2)
1. Long Beach State (25)  375   21-0
2. BYU    321   19-5
3. UC Irvine  309   17-7
4. Pepperdine  303   14-6
5. UCLA   295   20-6
6. Hawai'i  234  15-6
7. Ohio State  225  19-4
8. Loyola-Chicago  221  20-5
9. CSUN  177   13-8
10.Lewis   131  16-10
11.UC Santa Barbara  129  10-9
12. Ball State  95  15-11
13. Concordia  89   13-14
14. Grand Canyon  33  16-10
15. Fort Wayne  29   17-9