MVB Hosts No. 1 Long Beach St. Wednesday

MATCH DAY: Wednesday, Feb. 21
No. 1 Long Beach State (13-0) at No. 2 UCLA (14-2)
Time: 7:30 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/2018/02/21/long-beach-state-ucla
Audio: http://ucla.leanplayer.com/

MATCH DAY: Friday, Feb. 23
No. 2 UCLA (14-2, 3-0) at No. 10 Pepperdine (7-3, 2-1)
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Firestone Fieldhouse
Live Stats: http://www.pepperdinewaves.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mvolley.html?event=1576100&school=pepp&sport=mvolley&camefrom=&startschool=&
Video: https://watchstadium.com/live/ucla-at-pepperdine-2/
Audio: http://ucla.leanplayer.com/

THIS WEEK - No. 2 UCLA (14-2, 3-0 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), which will host the 2018 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship in May, welcomes top-ranked Long Beach State (13-0) in a non-league contest on Wednesday night at 7:30 in Pauley Pavilion. The Beach dealt UCLA a 3-1 setback and snapped the Bruins' seven-match win streak last Saturday in Walter Pyramid (23-25, 25-15, 25-19, 25-21). It was just the second set in a match this season which Long Beach has lost. On Friday, the Bruins will head to Malibu to play at No. 10 Pepperdine (7-3, 2-1) at 7 p.m. in an MPSF match.
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. The last time a No. 2-ranked Bruin team faced the No. 1-ranked team, prior to last Saturday vs. the Beach, was last season at Ohio State, a 1-3 loss in Columbus, Ohio in the third match of the campaign in the AVCA Showcase event. The last time the Bruins were ranked No. 1 was in the 2016 season, in polls for which came out in weeks two, three, four and 12. UCLA has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AVCA poll at some point in each of the past five seasons.

LAST FEW MATCHES - The Bruins hit a season-low .191 at Long Beach after posting at least a .400 mark for the previous six contests. Long Beach was also the first team to out block the Bruins this season (8.0/5.5). Daenan Gyimah led UCLA with 13 kills. The Bruins grabbed an MPSF win over USC (25-15, 25-18, 25-19) in Pauley on last Wednesday. Dylan Missry (12) and Christian Hessenauer (11) were in double-digit kills. Gyimah and Hessenauer finished with five blocks each. UCLA swung for a season-high .494 hitting percentage during a straight set MPSF win at Grand Canyon (25-19, 25-18, 25-18). Hessenauer led in kills with 14. Gyimah had a big match with nine kills (.667), three aces and six blocks. UCLA hit .400 in the MPSF opener at Concordia (25-18, 28-26, 25-17). Hessenauer paced the team with 12 kills.

NCAA STATS - Gyimah leads the nation in hitting % at .522. UCLA is third in the nation in hitting % coming into the week (.353). Ma'a leads the NCAA in assists per set at 10.97 and is 16th in service aces per set (0.47). The Bruin team is third in the NCAA in aces (1.91) per set.

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.

RANKING - UCLA held steady at No. 2 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 MPSF and was No. 6 in the final AVCA National Poll.

OPPOSITION - No. 1 Long Beach State, which leads the nation in hitting % at .421, has run off 13 straight wins to open 2018. The 49ers have four wins over ranked opponents to date (at Lewis, 3-0, at Loyola-Chicago, 3-0 and at home over USC, 3-0 and UCLA, 3-1) and also lead the nation in opponents hitting % at .152. Last season, the Beach dealt UCLA a 0-3 setback in the Wooden Center after hitting .404 against the Bruins. Gyimah led UCLA with 13 kills and five blocks in that match.

NEW LOOK LEAGUE - 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 which will be hosted by UCLA on May 3 and 5 in Pauley Pavilion.

BY THE NUMBERS
• The Bruins enter the week leading the nation in Set Assists (12.66) and Kills/Set (13.47).
• Micah Ma'a leads the NCAA in set assists at 10.97/per set, while Daenan Gyimah holds the highest hitting percentage in the NCAA at .522.
• 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).
• Long Beach was the first opponent to rack up more total blocks in a match than the Bruins, holding UCLA without a single block (BA or BS) while winning sets two and three ... UC Irvine (away) tied the Bruins in blocks.
• The Bruins hold a 33-8 advantage in service aces over the opponent in the last six matches ... The Bruins tied 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 .388 over the last seven matches (343k - 93e - 644 ta). UCLA was averaging 11 hitting errors per contest in the last six matches prior to having 24 at Long Beach State last Saturday night.
• Ohio State is the lone opponent to record more aces than the Bruins in a match this season ... The only matches UCLA has had an opponent hit for a higher percentage were in losses to Hawai'i and Long Beach State.
• 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, 16th in NCAA (0.47) in aces/set, has moved into top 3 at UCLA all-time in aces - he ranked 25th in NCAA last season (0.33).
• 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 came in briefly 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 --- the 20 kills in the win at Hawai'i, ties his career-best number against Long Beach State in a 2015 match and is the most by a Bruin player this season ... He had 19 kills in the earlier win this season over Ohio St. to go with 13 digs.

THIS WEEK'S AVCA POLL
1. Long Beach St. (25) 375 13-0
2. UCLA 348   14-2
3. Hawai'i 324   8-1
4. Ohio State 300   11-2
5. UC Irvine 268   11-3
6. BYU 256   10-4
7. Penn State 203   8-2
8. Loyola-Chicago 199   10-3
9. Lewis 171   9-4
10. Pepperdine 162     7-3
11. CSUN 133   7-6
12. Grand Canyon 91   11-5
13. UC Santa Barbara 65   4-4
14. Ball State 52   7-7
15. Fort Wayne 26   9-4
rec. votes - George Mason, USC, Concordia

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MVB Hosts No. 1 Long Beach St. Wednesday

Players Mentioned

Colin Bailey

Daenan Gyimah

Christian Hessenauer

Sam Kobrine

Micah Ma'a

Grant Maleski

Dylan Missry

Ian Parish

Alex Parks

Garland Peed

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

MVB Hosts No. 1 Long Beach St. Wednesday

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Players Mentioned

Colin Bailey

Daenan Gyimah

Christian Hessenauer

Sam Kobrine

Micah Ma'a

Grant Maleski

Dylan Missry

Ian Parish

Alex Parks

Garland Peed

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