No. 3 UCLA Hosts No. 5 Hawai'i in Home Opener

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LOS ANGELES – No. 3 UCLA (7-0, 0-0 MPSF) returns home this week to host No. 5 Hawai'i (4-0, 0-0 Big West) in the 2019 home opener on Friday, Feb. 1 at 6:00 p.m. PT at Dirks Pool at Spieker Aquatics Center. The Bruins will also host the UCLA Mini-Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 2., hosting No. 15 Loyola Marymount (2-0, 0-0 Golden Coast) at 8:30 a.m. PT and No. 14 Fresno State (2-6, 0-0 Golden Coast) at 9:45 a.m. PT. UCLA will also host its annual Alumnae Match at 1:00 p.m. PT on Saturday afternoon. Admission is free.

SCHEDULE AT A GLANCE
Friday, Feb. 1 (Spieker Aquatics Center)
6:00 PM PT – No. 5 Hawai'i at No. 3 UCLA

Saturday, Feb. 2 (Spieker Aquatics Center)
8:30 AM PT – No. 15 Loyola Marymount at No. 3 UCLA
9:45 AM PT – No. 14 Fresno State at No. 3 UCLA
1:00 PM PT – No. 3 UCLA vs. Alumnae

Recapping Last Week
The third-ranked UCLA Bruins continued its undefeated season with two wins over nationally-ranked teams at the Cal Cup in Berkeley, Calif on Jan. 26-27. The Bruins opened the weekend with a 13-8 win over No. 13 UC Davis with junior attacker Maddie Musselman leading the team in scoring with a career-high-tying five goals for the fourth time in her collegiate career. The Bruins then posted a 14-9 win over No. 17 Fresno State with freshmen attackers Val Ayala and Bella Baia each scoring a hat trick against the Bulldogs.

Bruins Off to Hot Start
For the third consecutive season, the Bruins have started 7-0 or better. All seven wins so far this season are to teams ranked in the Top 25 with two of them coming against Top 10 teams (No. 6 UC Irvine and No. 9 Michigan).

Bruins in the MPSF Stats
Three Bruins are currently ranked in the top 25 in the MPSF in scoring, led by Maddie Musselman's 2.25 goals per game (nine goals in four games) to rank ninth in the league. Freshman Val Ayala, the Bruins leading scorer with 15 goals in seven games on the year, currently ranks 10th with a 2.14 goals per game average. Senior Lizette Rozeboom comes in tied for 12th in the MPSF in scoring with a 2.00 goals per game average (eight goals in four games). In the goalie rankings, senior Carlee Kapana ranks fourth in saves per game (8.57 spg) while sophomore Jahmea Bent ranks eighth (6.44 spg). Bent ranks fifth in the MPSF in goals against average at 6.79 while Kapana ranks sixth at 6.90.

Val Ayala Named MPSF/KAP7 Newcomer of the Week
UCLA freshman Val Ayala (Anaheim, Calif./Foothill HS) was named the MPSF/KAP7 Newcomer of the Week as announced by the league office on Jan. 22. The freshman attacker led the Bruins in scoring this past weekend as UCLA went 5-0 with five wins over nationally ranked teams. Ayala registered three hat tricks, opening her collegiate career with three scores in a 10-6 win over No. 18 CSUN. She completed another hat trick in another 10-6 win over No. 6 UC Irvine. She tacked on one goal in a 17-8 win over No. 24 Cal Baptist and then scored three more in a 9-7 outcome over No. 9 Michigan. In all, Ayala scored 10 goals while collecting three assists, three steals and two drawn exclusions. This is the first career MPSF honor for Ayala.

Coaching Changes
During the offseason, UCLA men's water polo hired Christopher Lee as an assistant coach to replace Dustin Litvak, who was hired to be the head men's water polo coach at Princeton.

Wright on Deck
Adam Wright is in his second season as UCLA's head men's water polo coach in 2019 with an overall record of 30-8 (.789) and an MPSF mark of 2-3 (.400). On July 20, 2017, UCLA Director of Athletics, Dan Guerrero, announced that Wright will guide both the UCLA men's and women's water polo teams.

Recapping 2018
Overall Record: 23-8 | Final Ranking: 4th | NCAA Finish: T-3rd | MPSF Tournament Finish: 4th

UCLA advanced to the semifinal round of the NCAA Tournament in head coach Adam Wright's first season at the helm of the program. The Bruins' 8-4 win over Pacific at USC secured their eighth consecutive appearance in the national semifinals. Sophomore Maddie Musselman secured ACWPC All-America acclaim for the second time in her career. Senior Devin Grab registered her second selection as a second-team All-American. UCLA also saw Bronte Halligan pick up third-team honors while Carlee Kapana was named an honorable mention All-America selection. In total, 12 Bruins claimed ACWPC All-Academic honors.

UCLA In The CWPA Poll
The Bruins remained at No. 3 in the 2019 CWPA National Women's Varsity Top 25 Poll (92 points, no change), released on Jan. 30.

2019 WOMEN'S VARSITY TOP 25 (WEEK 2 - Jan. 30)
Rank	Team	Last Week's Poll	Points
1	USC	1	100
2	Stanford	2	96
3	UCLA	3	92
4	California	4	87
5	Hawai'i	7	83
6	UC Irvine	6	79
7	Arizona State	5	78
8 (T)	Pacific	8	71
8 (T)	Michigan	9	71
10	UC Santa Barbara	10	61
11	San Jose State	14	56
12	Princeton	12	55
13	UC Davis	13	54
14	Fresno State	17	48
15	Loyola Marymount	15	42
16	Wagner	16	38
17	Long Beach State	11	36
18	Harvard	18 (T)	27
19	Indiana	18 (T)	26
20	Marist	20	22
21	UC San DIego	21	21
22	CSUN	22 (T)	16
23	San Diego State	22 (T)	12
24	Cal Baptist	24	11
25	Azusa Pacific	25	7
RV	Bucknell	RV	6
RV	Iona	RV	2
RV	Brown	RV	2
RV	Cal State East Bay	RV	1

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No. 3 UCLA Hosts No. 5 Hawai'i in Home Opener

2019 WOMEN'S VARSITY TOP 25 (WEEK 2 - Jan. 30)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Val Ayala

Bella Baia

Jahmea Bent

Devin Grab

Bronte Halligan

Carlee Kapana

Maddie Musselman

Lizette Rozeboom

University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics

No. 3 UCLA Hosts No. 5 Hawai'i in Home Opener

2019 WOMEN'S VARSITY TOP 25 (WEEK 2 - Jan. 30)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Val Ayala

Bella Baia

Jahmea Bent

Devin Grab

Bronte Halligan

Carlee Kapana

Maddie Musselman

Lizette Rozeboom

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