UCLA junior Kaiya McCullough has been named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, her second career award and the Bruins' 74th all-time weekly honor.
McCullough (Mission Viejo, Calif.) made two outstanding defensive plays on Sunday against Arizona's leading scorer Jada Talley to preserve the shutout in a 2-0 win over the Wildcats. In the 59th minute, McCullough headed away a pass bouncing towards Talley in front of the goal, and two minutes later, she stopped Talley on the counterattack, closing in to block her shot in the box. McCullough also helped limit a dangerous Arizona State squad to nine shots in a 3-1 victory on Thursday.
?? @hiyakaiya #ARIZvsUCLA | #GoBruins pic.twitter.com/9YgDPSTUuU
— UCLA Women's Soccer (@UCLAWSoccer) October 7, 2018
UCLA has totaled four Pac-12 weekly honors this season. Along with McCullough, Hailie Mace was named Offensive Player of the Week Aug. 21, Teagan Micah was the Goalkeeper of the Week Aug. 28, and Karina Rodriguez was the Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 18.
The Bruins will travel to Washington for a Friday, Oct. 12 matchup in Seattle at 6pm.