Speraw Named MVB Coach of the Year

John Speraw was named the 2018 VolleyballMag.com/TallSlimTees men's college coach of the year after leading his Bruin team into the NCAA national championship match against top-seeded Long Beach State earlier this month. UCLA finished 26-8 on the season, recording the most wins by the program since the 2006 campaign, which was the last Bruin squad to reach the NCAA title match.

The Bruins, who finished second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, avenged a loss in the MPSF championship contest at BYU by sending the No. 2-seeded Cougars home in an NCAA semifinal match. Speraw, who won three NCAA titles as head coach at UC Irvine (2007, 2009, 2012) before returning to UCLA, has captured eight NCAA championships in all (two while a player at UCLA in 1993 and 1995 and three more while serving as an assistant coach at UCLA in 1996, 1998 and 2000). Earlier in the 2018 season, he secured milestone victories including his 100th win at UCLA and 300th career win as a collegiate head coach in victories over Penn State and Ohio State, respectively. The Bruins' 14-1 start to the 2018 season was the best by a team since the 2005 squad opened the year with wins in 15 of its first 16 matches. UCLA earned the No. 2 spot in the final AVCA Coaches poll and has risen to at least the No. 2 spot in the poll at some point during each of the past five seasons.

A pair of Bruin players were selected to the VolleyballMag.com first-team All-America squad --- Middle Blocker Daenan Gyimah and Setter Micah Ma'a. Outside hitter Jake Arnitz was a second-team pick and opposite Christian Hessenauer earned honorable mention All-America acclaim.

Sophomore Daenan Gyimah led the NCAA in hitting percentage at .528 and became the first Bruin in the rally scoring era to hit above .500 for a campaign (with at least 300 attacks). Gyimah's 151 total blocks rate second all-time on the UCLA single-season rally-scoring era list. He was also a first-team AVCA All-America selection and the winner of the 2018 Ryan Millar Award as the nation's top middle attacker. Gyimah hit at least .500 in 22 matches during the course of the season.

Junior setter Micah Ma'a helped the Bruins register a .350 hitting percentage for the season which rated second-best in the NCAA. His 10.55 set assists average per set ranked fourth in the NCAA this season, while his total of 56 service aces tied for the second-most ever by a Bruin player in a single-season (rally scoring era). He was also a first-team All-AVCA All-America pick this year.

Senior outside hitter Jake Arnitz hit at least .300 in 17 matches during the course of the season. He finished his career fourth on the all-time school lists for kills, total attacks and points. Arnitz was an honorable mention AVCA All-America.

Senior opposite Christian Hessenauer led the team in kills per set (3.43) and points per set (4.14) this season. Both marks rated among the top 25 in the NCAA. Hessenauer had 23 matches with double-digit kills in 2018. His season total of 476.5 points during the year ranked as the eighth-best total in school history (rally scoring era).

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Speraw Named MVB Coach of the Year

Players Mentioned

Jake Arnitz

Daenan Gyimah

Christian Hessenauer

Micah Ma'a

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

Speraw Named MVB Coach of the Year

Players Mentioned

Jake Arnitz

Daenan Gyimah

Christian Hessenauer

Micah Ma'a

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