Sam Kobrine led the Bruins with seven digs in the win over USC.
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA
MVB Plays for Top Spot in MPSF
February 26, 2019 | Men's Volleyball
COMING UP -- No. 6 UCLA (12-4, 4-0) will play two league matches this week as action continues in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). On Wednesday, UCLA and No. 4 Pepperdine (11-2, 4-0) will break a first-place league tie when they meet in Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom at 7 p.m. On Friday, the Bruins will begin the month of March by traveling to Phoenix, Ariz. to battle Grand Canyon University (0-5, 7-10) at 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT.
MATCH DAY: Wednesday, Feb. 27
No. 4 Pepperdine at No. 6 UCLA - Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
TV; Pac-12 Network
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
Live Video: https://pac-12.com/mens-volleyball/event/2019/02/27/pepperdine-ucla
Live Audio: https://ucla.leanplayer.com/
MATCH DAY: Friday, Mar. 1
No. 6 UCLA at Grand Canyon - GCU Arena
Time: 5:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=244062
Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBohNDUYscg
LAST MEETINGS -- The Bruins split a pair of matches with Pepperdine last season. The Waves handed the Bruins a 0-3 (21-25, 23-25, 20-25) decision in Malibu. Pepperdine outhit the Bruins .455 to .205 in that match and out blocked the visitors from Westwood 10.0-3.0. Daenan Gyimah had four kills, hit .200, and added three block assists for the Bruins. Twelve days later, UCLA came back to defeat Pepperdine in four sets in Pauley (25-17, 17-25, 26-24, 25-17). The Bruins hit .412 this time around (to Pepp's .253) and won the blocking battle 7.5 to 4.0. Daenan Gyimah hit .889 (17k-1e-18att) with 17 kills and added five block assists in the victory.
UCLA dealt Grand Canyon a pair of setbacks last season. The Bruins won 25-19, 25-18, 25-18 in Phoenix, outhitting the Antelopes .494 to .179 and enjoying a 5-0 edge in aces. UCLA won in four at home, 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, while hitting .345 (to .205) and serving up nine aces (to 3). The Bruins added a season-high 16.0 total blocks in the match.
GYIMAH NAMED AVCA and MPSF POW -- Daenan Gyimah was named the Sports ImportsVB/AVCA Di-II National Player of the Week and the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week for his role in UCLA's wins over Concordia and USC. The junior middle hit .629 last week while averaging 4.2 kills per set in leading UCLA to two wins. It marked the 12th and 13th straight contests in which he has hit at least .400. This is the fifth career MPSF weekly award for Gyimah, third on the offensive side. The Scarborough, Ontario native was named Offensive POW earlier this season after hitting .614 in wins at Loyola and Lewis.
MA'A NAMED OFF THE BLOCK NATIONAL SETTER OF THE WEEK -- The senior setter guided the offense to a .420 attack percentage and had a match-high four aces as UCLA swept its cross-town rival USC on Sunday. Ma'a also had a match-high 11 digs, most by a Bruin player this season, and helped the offense hit .356 in a sweep of Concordia-Irvine last Wednesday.
AT HOME -- UCLA is 6-1 at home (4-1 in Pauley) this season after posting a 19-2 record in its home venues of Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom (13-2) and in the Wooden Center (6-0) last season ... It was the most home wins ever by the Bruins, one more than the 18 wins registered in 1987 ... Over the past three-plus seasons, UCLA is 35-5 in Pauley (2016: 10-1, 2017: 8-1, 2018: 13-2, 2019: 4-1) ... The last team not named Long Beach State (which also won in Pauley in February 2018 and May 2018) to defeat UCLA in Pauley was CSUN in February of 2017 (note: the Bruins did lose three home matches in the Wooden Center after the 2017 CSUN loss).
ON THE ROAD -- UCLA is 6-3 on the road this season (losses at Long Beach, at UCSB; at CSUN). The Bruins have posted road wins against a couple of ranked teams from Loyola-Chicago and Lewis. Last year, UCLA was 6-6 in true road matches in 2018.
NCAA STATS -- UCLA began the week 3rd in the nation in aces/set (1.98) and hitting % (.337) ... It is 7th in kills/set (12.98) and set assist average (12.11). Daenan Gyimah leads the nation in hitting % (.554) ... Micah Ma'a rated 2nd nationally in aces (0.67 per set).
BY THE NUMBERS
• Daenan Gyimah has hit .400 or better in 13 straight matches and 14 matches overall this season (not vs. Princeton and CSUN).
• Daenan Gyimah's .739 hitting percentage in the win at Loyola-Chicago is the highest of any player (entering the week) in the country this season (min. 20 att.) ... His school-record .917 mark at McKendree is tied for 2nd-highest by a player this season (min. 10 att.).
• UCLA is 6-4 this year vs. teams ranked in the AVCA poll at the time of the match, after going 14-7 last season.
• Micah Ma'a has totaled at least three aces in 7 matches in '19: at Loyola-3, at UCSD-3, UCSD-3, USC-4, Long Beach-4, BYU-5 and Lindenwood-5.
• Micah Ma'a has 26 aces in the last 10 matches and has recorded multiple aces in 9 contests with at least one ace in 15 of the 16 matches this year (not at McKendree) ... Ma'a ranks second on the all-time school list for aces, is third on the all-time school list for set assists and fourth in digs.
• Austin Matautia has 41 kills over the last five matches ... He was errorless on 27 swings at Concordia last week while producing 11 kills ... He had season-best 13 kills vs. BYU, after putting down 12 vs. Stanford ... His overall career-best of 16 came in 2017 against Long Beach ... Last year, Matautia played in 25 matches, with nine starts, at Hawai'i (1.9 k/s).
• Brandon Rattray has 46 kills and nine aces in the last four matches ... He registered a career-best 21 kills in the win at UCSD ... Rattray began the week ranked 14th in the NCAA in kills/set this year (3.79) ... He has 159 kills this season after totaling 40 a season ago at UH where he appeared in 12 matches, with one start (2.0 kills/set; 0.8 digs/ 0.55 blocks per set).
• MB Grant Maleski, who had a career-best 9 kills in loss at UCSB, totaled a career-best 7 block assists in the win over Stanford ... He has moved inside this season to middle blocker after seeing action in eight matches last season at OH, with two starts. Maleski has led or tied for the team lead in block assists in 5 of last 8 matches. His career-high 13 kills came in a match (2/21) against Long Beach last season.
• UCLA has won the ace battle in 10 of its 12 wins this season. The Bruins have double-digit aces in (UCSD-11, BYU-13, USC-12) three matches this season ... Last season, UCLA tied the school record with 15 aces against Princeton; it equaled the school mark with seven aces in a set (second set) in this year's home match against UC San Diego.
• UCLA has hit over .400 (.420 vs. USC, .475 vs. UCSB and McKendree; .449 at UCSD, .407 at Loyola) five times (5-0) in 2019.
• UCLA is 12-0 in 2019 (26-2 last season) when it hits for a higher % than the opponent ... In 7 home matches in 2019, UCLA is swinging at a.326 clip vs. .226 for opponents ... In 9 away matches - UCLA is hitting .345 to .273 for opponents.
MPSF Standings (2/25)
Pepperdine 4-0
UCLA 4-0
Stanford 3-2
BYU 3-2
USC 1-3
Concordia 1-4
Grand Canyon 0-5
AVCA Coaches Poll (2/25)
1. Long Beach State 240 13-0
2. Hawai'i 222 10-0
3. UC Irvine 208 13-2
4. Pepperdine 187 11-2
5. UC Santa Barbara 179 13-3
6. UCLA 160 12-4
7. Loyola-Chicago 143 13-3
8. Stanford 120 11-5
9. BYU 113 7-4
10. Lewis 104 13-4
11. CSUN 81 8-6
12. Purdue Fort Wayne 48 9-7
13. USC 42 7-7
14. George Mason 36 10-4
15. Ball State 27 7-8
MATCH DAY: Wednesday, Feb. 27
No. 4 Pepperdine at No. 6 UCLA - Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
TV; Pac-12 Network
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
Live Video: https://pac-12.com/mens-volleyball/event/2019/02/27/pepperdine-ucla
Live Audio: https://ucla.leanplayer.com/
MATCH DAY: Friday, Mar. 1
No. 6 UCLA at Grand Canyon - GCU Arena
Time: 5:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=244062
Live Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBohNDUYscg
LAST MEETINGS -- The Bruins split a pair of matches with Pepperdine last season. The Waves handed the Bruins a 0-3 (21-25, 23-25, 20-25) decision in Malibu. Pepperdine outhit the Bruins .455 to .205 in that match and out blocked the visitors from Westwood 10.0-3.0. Daenan Gyimah had four kills, hit .200, and added three block assists for the Bruins. Twelve days later, UCLA came back to defeat Pepperdine in four sets in Pauley (25-17, 17-25, 26-24, 25-17). The Bruins hit .412 this time around (to Pepp's .253) and won the blocking battle 7.5 to 4.0. Daenan Gyimah hit .889 (17k-1e-18att) with 17 kills and added five block assists in the victory.
UCLA dealt Grand Canyon a pair of setbacks last season. The Bruins won 25-19, 25-18, 25-18 in Phoenix, outhitting the Antelopes .494 to .179 and enjoying a 5-0 edge in aces. UCLA won in four at home, 25-15, 25-20, 22-25, 25-21, while hitting .345 (to .205) and serving up nine aces (to 3). The Bruins added a season-high 16.0 total blocks in the match.
GYIMAH NAMED AVCA and MPSF POW -- Daenan Gyimah was named the Sports ImportsVB/AVCA Di-II National Player of the Week and the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week for his role in UCLA's wins over Concordia and USC. The junior middle hit .629 last week while averaging 4.2 kills per set in leading UCLA to two wins. It marked the 12th and 13th straight contests in which he has hit at least .400. This is the fifth career MPSF weekly award for Gyimah, third on the offensive side. The Scarborough, Ontario native was named Offensive POW earlier this season after hitting .614 in wins at Loyola and Lewis.
MA'A NAMED OFF THE BLOCK NATIONAL SETTER OF THE WEEK -- The senior setter guided the offense to a .420 attack percentage and had a match-high four aces as UCLA swept its cross-town rival USC on Sunday. Ma'a also had a match-high 11 digs, most by a Bruin player this season, and helped the offense hit .356 in a sweep of Concordia-Irvine last Wednesday.
AT HOME -- UCLA is 6-1 at home (4-1 in Pauley) this season after posting a 19-2 record in its home venues of Pauley Pavilion, presented by Wescom (13-2) and in the Wooden Center (6-0) last season ... It was the most home wins ever by the Bruins, one more than the 18 wins registered in 1987 ... Over the past three-plus seasons, UCLA is 35-5 in Pauley (2016: 10-1, 2017: 8-1, 2018: 13-2, 2019: 4-1) ... The last team not named Long Beach State (which also won in Pauley in February 2018 and May 2018) to defeat UCLA in Pauley was CSUN in February of 2017 (note: the Bruins did lose three home matches in the Wooden Center after the 2017 CSUN loss).
ON THE ROAD -- UCLA is 6-3 on the road this season (losses at Long Beach, at UCSB; at CSUN). The Bruins have posted road wins against a couple of ranked teams from Loyola-Chicago and Lewis. Last year, UCLA was 6-6 in true road matches in 2018.
NCAA STATS -- UCLA began the week 3rd in the nation in aces/set (1.98) and hitting % (.337) ... It is 7th in kills/set (12.98) and set assist average (12.11). Daenan Gyimah leads the nation in hitting % (.554) ... Micah Ma'a rated 2nd nationally in aces (0.67 per set).
BY THE NUMBERS
• Daenan Gyimah has hit .400 or better in 13 straight matches and 14 matches overall this season (not vs. Princeton and CSUN).
• Daenan Gyimah's .739 hitting percentage in the win at Loyola-Chicago is the highest of any player (entering the week) in the country this season (min. 20 att.) ... His school-record .917 mark at McKendree is tied for 2nd-highest by a player this season (min. 10 att.).
• UCLA is 6-4 this year vs. teams ranked in the AVCA poll at the time of the match, after going 14-7 last season.
• Micah Ma'a has totaled at least three aces in 7 matches in '19: at Loyola-3, at UCSD-3, UCSD-3, USC-4, Long Beach-4, BYU-5 and Lindenwood-5.
• Micah Ma'a has 26 aces in the last 10 matches and has recorded multiple aces in 9 contests with at least one ace in 15 of the 16 matches this year (not at McKendree) ... Ma'a ranks second on the all-time school list for aces, is third on the all-time school list for set assists and fourth in digs.
• Austin Matautia has 41 kills over the last five matches ... He was errorless on 27 swings at Concordia last week while producing 11 kills ... He had season-best 13 kills vs. BYU, after putting down 12 vs. Stanford ... His overall career-best of 16 came in 2017 against Long Beach ... Last year, Matautia played in 25 matches, with nine starts, at Hawai'i (1.9 k/s).
• Brandon Rattray has 46 kills and nine aces in the last four matches ... He registered a career-best 21 kills in the win at UCSD ... Rattray began the week ranked 14th in the NCAA in kills/set this year (3.79) ... He has 159 kills this season after totaling 40 a season ago at UH where he appeared in 12 matches, with one start (2.0 kills/set; 0.8 digs/ 0.55 blocks per set).
• MB Grant Maleski, who had a career-best 9 kills in loss at UCSB, totaled a career-best 7 block assists in the win over Stanford ... He has moved inside this season to middle blocker after seeing action in eight matches last season at OH, with two starts. Maleski has led or tied for the team lead in block assists in 5 of last 8 matches. His career-high 13 kills came in a match (2/21) against Long Beach last season.
• UCLA has won the ace battle in 10 of its 12 wins this season. The Bruins have double-digit aces in (UCSD-11, BYU-13, USC-12) three matches this season ... Last season, UCLA tied the school record with 15 aces against Princeton; it equaled the school mark with seven aces in a set (second set) in this year's home match against UC San Diego.
• UCLA has hit over .400 (.420 vs. USC, .475 vs. UCSB and McKendree; .449 at UCSD, .407 at Loyola) five times (5-0) in 2019.
• UCLA is 12-0 in 2019 (26-2 last season) when it hits for a higher % than the opponent ... In 7 home matches in 2019, UCLA is swinging at a.326 clip vs. .226 for opponents ... In 9 away matches - UCLA is hitting .345 to .273 for opponents.
MPSF Standings (2/25)
Pepperdine 4-0
UCLA 4-0
Stanford 3-2
BYU 3-2
USC 1-3
Concordia 1-4
Grand Canyon 0-5
AVCA Coaches Poll (2/25)
1. Long Beach State 240 13-0
2. Hawai'i 222 10-0
3. UC Irvine 208 13-2
4. Pepperdine 187 11-2
5. UC Santa Barbara 179 13-3
6. UCLA 160 12-4
7. Loyola-Chicago 143 13-3
8. Stanford 120 11-5
9. BYU 113 7-4
10. Lewis 104 13-4
11. CSUN 81 8-6
12. Purdue Fort Wayne 48 9-7
13. USC 42 7-7
14. George Mason 36 10-4
15. Ball State 27 7-8
Players Mentioned
MB
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