MVB Plays In MPSF Semifinals Thursday

BRUINS MEET No. 13 CONCORDIA THURSDAY IN MPSF SEMIFINAL — No. 2-ranked UCLA (23-6 and the No. 2 seed in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), will take on No. 13-ranked Concordia (16-14 and the No. 4 seed) on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. PT in an MPSF semifinal match to be held in Smith Fieldhouse at BYU. The winner will advance to play either No. 1 seed BYU (20-6) or No. 6 seed USC (8-19) in the MPSF Championship match which will be held at BYU on Saturday April 21 at 6 p.m. PT. The MPSF Tournament champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.

MATCH DAY: Thursday
MPSF Semifinals
No. 2 seed UCLA vs No. 4 seed Concordia
Time: 3:30 p.m. PT
Site: Provo, Utah
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=217556
Video:http://www.mpsports.org/collegesportslive/?media=574695 (pay per view)

MATCH DAY: Saturday
Winner of Thursday's match moves on to MPSF Championship
Time: 6 p.m. PT
Site: Provo, Utah
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=217558
Video:http://www.mpsports.org/collegesportslive/?media=574699 (pay per view)
TV: BYUtv will televise the match if BYU advances

UCLA captured both regular season meetings with the Eagles this season, winning a pair of 3-0 decisions (25-18, 28-26, 25-17 at CUI on Feb. 8 and 25-22, 25-15, 25-19 in the Wooden Center on March 14). Christian Hessenauer topped UCLA with 12 kills (.333) in the win in the first meeting of the year played at Irvine. UCLA outhit the Eagles .400 to .195 and also tallied more aces (9-1) and more blocks (7.5 to 3.0). Hessenauer had 18 kills, while hitting .483, to lead the Bruin attack in the home match. Dylan Missry and Jake Arnitz each totaled 10 kills in that contest. UCLA out hit CUI .396 to .227 in the match and won the ace battle nine to one. Concordia had more total team blocks than the Bruins by 4.5 to 2.0.

The Bruins split a pair of matches with the teams in the other MPSF semifinal, winning the home matches (Apr. 7 UCLA d. BYU 25-21, 25-23, 25-22 --- UCLA hit .400 with 5 aces, 9.5 blocks --- BYU hit .247 with 3 aces, 6.5 blocks //// Feb. 14 UCLA d. USC 25-15, 25-18, 25-19 --- UCLA hit .458, with 6 aces, 9.0 blocks --- USC hit .141 with 1 ace and 7.5 blocks) and losing on the road at BYU (Mar. 3 BYU d. UCLA 25-23, 25-21, 25-20---BYU hit .318 with 3 aces, 10.0 blocks --- UCLA hit .214, with 1 ace, 5.5 blocks) and at USC (USC d. UCLA 18-25, 25-23, 25-23, 19-25, 15-11---USC hit .272 with 5 aces, 8.0 blocks --- UCLA hit .384 with 6 aces, 9.5 blocks).

POST-SEASON HONORS - Seven Bruins earned all-league honors. Four were chosen first-team All-MPSF – Jake Arnitz, Christian Hessenauer, Micah Ma'a, Daenan Gyimah. Second-team honors went to JT Hatch and Dylan Missry. Oliver Martin was an honorable mention selection.

NCAA STAT CHECK - Deanan Gyimah began the week leading the nation in hitting percentage at .533 and was listed fourth in blocks/set (1.20). UCLA is second nationally in hitting percentage coming into the week (.356). Micah Ma'a is third in the NCAA and first in the MPSF in assists / set at 10.65. The Bruin team is fourth in the NCAA in aces (1.78) per set and third in the nation in kills per set (13.09).

RANKING - UCLA is in the No. 2 spot in the latest 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.

RECENT MPSF TOURNAMENT HISTORY — The Bruins last won the MPSF Tournament in 2006 and then went on to claim their 19th NCAA Championship. UCLA has won MPSF Tournament titles in 2006, 2001, 2000, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993... 2018 - #2 UCLA d. No. 7 Stanford 3-0 in quarterfinals; 2017 - #5 seed UCLA lost at #4 UC Irvine 1-3 in quarterfinals 2016 - #2 UCLA def. #7 Hawai'i 3-1 in quarterfinals, def. #3 Long Beach St. in semis 3-1, lost at #1 BYU in championship 1-3; 2015 - #8 UCLA lost at #1 UC Irvine in quarterfinals 0-3; 2014 -- #5 UCLA lost at #4 UC Santa Barbara in quarterfinals 2-3; 2013 -- #4 UCLA def. #5 Pepperdine in quarterfinals 3-0 and lost in semis at #1 BYU 2-3; 2012 -- #5 UCLA lost in quarterfinals at #4 UC Irvine 1-3; 2011 -- #8 UCLA lost in quarterfinals at #1 USC 1-3; 2010 -- #7 UCLA lost at #2 BYU in quarterfinals 1-3; 2009 -- #8 UCLA lost in quarterfinals at #1 UC Irvine 1-3.

BY THE NUMBERS
• The Bruins are 17-1 this season (7-0 vs. MPSF teams) in home matches. UCLA is 6-5 overall on the road, 3-3 vs. MPSF teams.
• UCLA is hitting .375 in the 18 home matches this season to .202 for the opponents and has 10 sweeps.
• UCLA has hit at least .345 in each of the last nine overall matches.
• Christian Hessenauer has averaged 13.3 kills per match and Jake Arnitz 10.2 kills per match during the last nine matches.
• The Bruins have held 11 opponents this season under .200 hitting % for the match, all wins (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, Stanford .057).
• Daenan Gyimah, who had a team-high 6 blocks in last week's win over Stanford, while hitting .500, registered a career-high 17 kills in the home win over Pepperdine (Mar. 7) on a .889 (17-1-18) hitting percentage, just shy of the Bruin school record and the best mark by a MPSF player this season.
• UCLA has hit at least .400 in 12 matches this season, all wins --- .400 v. BYU, .412, .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.
• Senior Jake Arnitz has hit .372 while starting in the last nine matches (92-24-183) with 40 digs.
• The Bruins hold a 65-33 advantage in service aces over the opponent in the last 11 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 last nine matches, UCLA is hitting .404 (413k-93e-793ta). The opponents are hitting .198 (334k-171e-825ta) during that period.
• Only three opponents have recorded more aces than UCLA in a match --- Pepperdine (h) (3-5), at BYU (1-3) and Ohio St (h) (2-4).
• UCLA is 23-1 when it hits for a higher % than its opponent (loss at USC)... The only matches UCLA has had an opponent hit for a higher % were in losses at BYU (.318/.214), at Pepperdine (.455/.203), at Hawai'i (.236/.209), Long Beach State (twice: home-.408/.315; away- .343/.191).

NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES - The 2018 MPSF Championship contest will take place April 21, at Provo, 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 (George Mason current leader), the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (Ohio State/Loyola tied for lead), the Big West Conference (Long Beach State current leader) and Conference Carolinas (Barton College / King University tied for lead). There are two at-large bids to this year's tournament.

NCAA MVB BRACKET ANNOUNCEMENT - The bracket will be announced on Apr. 22 at 10 a.m. PT at www.NCAA.com
Apr. 26, 27 or 28 - NCAA First Match (site tbd)
No. 6 seed vs. No. 7 seed
May 1 - NCAA Quarterfinals (site tbd)
Winner No. 6 v. No. 7 match vs. No. 3 seed
No. 4 seed vs. No. 5 seed
May 3 - NCAA Semifinals (Pauley Pavilion - 6 and 8:30)
No. 1 seed vs. 4/5 winner
No. 2 seed vs. 3/6-7 winner
May 5 - NCAA Championship (Pauley Pavilion - 4 pm)

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MVB Plays In MPSF Semifinals Thursday

Players Mentioned

Jake Arnitz

Daenan Gyimah

JT Hatch

Christian Hessenauer

Micah Ma'a

Oliver Martin

Dylan Missry

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

MVB Plays In MPSF Semifinals Thursday

Players Mentioned

Jake Arnitz

Daenan Gyimah

JT Hatch

Christian Hessenauer

Micah Ma'a

Oliver Martin

Dylan Missry

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