Matt Younggren puts one away at the net.
Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA
MVB Hosts MPSF Quarterfinal Match Saturday
April 10, 2019 | Men's Volleyball
MPSF PLAYOFFS BEGIN -- No. 6-ranked UCLA (18-8), the No. 2 seed, will host an MPSF Quarterfinal match on Saturday, Apr. 13 against No. 13-ranked Concordia (14-18), the No. 7 seed, at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The winner of that match will advance to the MPSF semifinals on Apr. 18 hosted by top-seed Pepperdine. Semifinal 1 will feature the highest remaining seeds. Semifinal 2 will feature the lowest remaining seed against Pepperdine. The Waves will also host the MPSF championship match to be played on Apr. 20 in Firestone Fieldhouse. Times are to be determined.
MPSF Tournament seeding – No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Stanford, No. 5 BYU, No. 6 Grand Canyon, No. 7 Concordia. MPSF QUARTERFINAL MATCHES ON APR. 13 -- Concordia at UCLA, Grand Canyon at USC, BYU at Stanford, Pepperdine bye The MPSF tournament champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA men's volleyball championship. The NCAA bracket and at-large selections will be announced on Apr. 21.
MATCH DAY: Saturday, Apr. 13
No. 7 seed Concordia at No. 2 seed UCLA - Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
Live Video:(this MPSF event is pay per view) https://mpsports.org/watch/?Live=17
Live Audio: https://ucla.leanplayer.com/
LAST MEETINGS -- The Bruins dealt Concordia a 25-17, 26-24, 25-17 setback in the first meeting in Irvine on Feb. 20. UCLA outhit the Eagles .356 to .101. The Bruins also won the battle at the net 8.0 total blocks to 6.0. UCLA had a seven to four edge in aces, led by a career-high tying four from Brandon Rattray who paced the attack with 13 kills. Daenan Gyimah finished with 11 kills and hit .529.
In the second meeting of the season, UCLA beat CUI 25-19, 25-19, 25-19. Opposite Daenan Gyimah led the way with 14 kills for the Bruins to go along with three aces. UCLA outhit the Eagles .322 to .110 on the night. Grant Maleski finished with a career-best three aces on the night to help the Bruins to a six to four edge at the service line. Matt Younggren and Gyimah had four block assists as UCLA won the net battle 8.0 to 5.5.
ACE RECORD AND TRIPLE FOR MA'A -- Micah Ma'a, with 201, moved into the top spot on the UCLA career aces list against GCU (old mark Gonzalo Quiroga, 2011-14 ---194). Ma'a began the week in the career ace lead among active NCAA I-II players, just ahead of Dimitar Kalchev of CSUN (194). Last Saturday at USC, he became the first Bruin with over 200 career aces after recording three to break his own (set in 2016, 58) rally-scoring era school mark and now has a total of 60 aces this season. This weekend, he will take aim on Mark Williams' overall school mark of 63 (set in 2000). Ma'a has also registered the lone triple-double in men's volleyball this season with15 kills, 44 set assists, 15 digs in a match at BYU on Mar. 14. It marked the first triple-double by an MPSF player since Ma'a had one in the 2016 season, also against BYU (10 k, 24 set asst., 14 digs).
AT HOME -- UCLA is 9-1 at home (6-1 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 37-5 in Pauley (2016: 10-1, 2017: 8-1, 2018: 13-2, 2019: 6-1) ... 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).
NCAA STATS -- UCLA began the week 5th in the nation in hitting % (.326) and 6th in Aces/set (1.69) ... It was 6th in kills/set (12.82) and 8th in set assist average (12.11). Daenan Gyimah was 4th in the nation in hitting % (.455) ... Micah Ma'a rated 2nd nationally in aces (0.61 per set).
RECENT UCLA MPSF TOURNAMENT HISTORY — UCLA has won MPSF Tournament titles in 2006, 2001, 2000, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993. 2018 -- #2 UCLA def. #7 Stanford 3-0 in quarterfinals; def. #4 Concordia (at BYU) 3-0 in semis, lost in final at #1 BYU 1-3; 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.
BY THE NUMBERS
• The Bruins own a home record of 16-3 in MPSF Tourney matches --- UCLA is 9-1 in neutral matches and 3-13 in away contests.
• Micah Ma'a has totaled at least 3 aces in 11 matches this season: at USC-3, Grand Canyon-6, at Stanford-5, at BYU-3, at Loyola-3, at UCSD-3, UCSD-3, USC-4, Long Beach-4, BYU-5 and Lindenwood-5 ... He has 19 aces (0.7/set), 58 digs (2.2) and 78 kills (3.0/set) in last 6 matches.
• Micah Ma'a, who began the week 2nd in the NCAA in aces/set (0.61, 1st in MPSF), has at least one ace in 23 of the 26 matches (not CUI-home, at McKendree or at GCU).
• Daenan Gyimah began the week fourth in the NCAA in hitting at .455 (2nd in MPSF) ... The Bruins were rated 5th in the NCAA in hitting % (.326-2nd in MPSF) and 6th in aces/set (1.69-1st in MPSF) to begin the week.
• Daenan Gyimah has totaled 17 matches this season with at least a .400 (not at USC, vs. CUI, vs. GCU, at Pepperdine, at BYU, vs. Pepperdine, at GCU, vs. Princeton and at CSUN) ... He had a streak of 13 straight matches hitting at least .400 stopped at home against Pepperdine (.211).
• UCLA is 18-0 when it hits for a higher % than the opponent ... In 10 home matches in 2019, UCLA is swinging at a .324 clip vs. .212 for opponents and owns a 80-40 edge in aces ... In 14 true away matches - UCLA hits .320 to .305 for opponents and the visitors own a 79-74 ace advantage.
• UCLA is 8-8 this year vs. teams ranked in the AVCA poll at the time of the match, after going 14-7 last season.
• UCLA utilized its 12th different starting lineup of the season in its last outing last Saturday at USC.
• In wins this season, the Bruins have out hit opponents .354 to .193 ... In losses, the team has hit .271 to .386 for opponents.
• UCLA has won the ace battle in 18 matches (15-3) this season; it has come up short this season in a loss (7-8) at USC, loss (4-7) at Pepperdine, loss (3-4) at BYU, loss (3-12) at Long Beach, win (7-9) at Loyola and (2-4) in loss at CSUN ... It was equal in victories at Grand Canyon (1-1) and at Lewis (3-3).
• Brandon Rattray began the week ranked 11th in the MPSF in hitting % at .328 ... He registered a career-best 24 kills at Stanford ... Rattray was 22nd in the NCAA in kills/set to begin this week (3.47) ... He has 253 kills in 2019 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).
• Grant Maleski, who has started the last 18 matches, compiled a career-best 9 kills at UCSB and totaled a career-best 7 block assists in win over Stanford ... He moved inside this season 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 eight times in those 18 starts ... He had a career-best three aces in matches last week against both USC and Concordia ... He had a streak of 8 straight matches with at least one ace eaerlier this season which was stopped at BYU.
• Senior hitter Dylan Missry (returned to starting lineup at Pepperdine-Mar. 27) has at least one service ace in eight of his 15 matches this season ... Missry is seventh on the all-time school list for career aces with 86 (rally scoring era of 2001 to the present). Missry missed 11 matches due to injury before returning to play in a limited role at Stanford and then returning to the starting lineup against Pepperdine, GCU, CUI and at USC.
• MB Matt Younggren registered a UCLA career-best seven kills at Pepperdine ... He posted a season-high six block assists in the back-to-back MPSF home matches vs. BYU and Stanford, has appeared in 14 matches ... Last year, he saw action in 18 contests for UC Irvine.
• Libero Cole Pender has handled 189 of his last 195 serve receptions (.969) with two errors over his last 8 matches.
AVCA Coaches Poll (Apr. 8)
1. Hawaii 240 25-0
2. Long Beach St. 224 23-1
3. UC Santa Barbara 206 17-7
4. Pepperdine 193 20-6
5. USC 169 16-9
6. UCLA 154 18-8
7. Lewis 142 22-5
8. Stanford 121 15-10
9. UC Irvine 114 15-10
10. Loyola-Chicago 101 19-7
11. CSUN 74 11-13
12. BYU 62 12-11
13. Concordia 25 14-18
13. Purdue Ft. Wayne 25 16-11
15. Grand Canyon 22 13-15
MPSF Tournament seeding – No. 1 Pepperdine, No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 USC, No. 4 Stanford, No. 5 BYU, No. 6 Grand Canyon, No. 7 Concordia. MPSF QUARTERFINAL MATCHES ON APR. 13 -- Concordia at UCLA, Grand Canyon at USC, BYU at Stanford, Pepperdine bye The MPSF tournament champion will receive the league's automatic bid to the NCAA men's volleyball championship. The NCAA bracket and at-large selections will be announced on Apr. 21.
MATCH DAY: Saturday, Apr. 13
No. 7 seed Concordia at No. 2 seed UCLA - Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=ucla
Live Video:(this MPSF event is pay per view) https://mpsports.org/watch/?Live=17
Live Audio: https://ucla.leanplayer.com/
LAST MEETINGS -- The Bruins dealt Concordia a 25-17, 26-24, 25-17 setback in the first meeting in Irvine on Feb. 20. UCLA outhit the Eagles .356 to .101. The Bruins also won the battle at the net 8.0 total blocks to 6.0. UCLA had a seven to four edge in aces, led by a career-high tying four from Brandon Rattray who paced the attack with 13 kills. Daenan Gyimah finished with 11 kills and hit .529.
In the second meeting of the season, UCLA beat CUI 25-19, 25-19, 25-19. Opposite Daenan Gyimah led the way with 14 kills for the Bruins to go along with three aces. UCLA outhit the Eagles .322 to .110 on the night. Grant Maleski finished with a career-best three aces on the night to help the Bruins to a six to four edge at the service line. Matt Younggren and Gyimah had four block assists as UCLA won the net battle 8.0 to 5.5.
ACE RECORD AND TRIPLE FOR MA'A -- Micah Ma'a, with 201, moved into the top spot on the UCLA career aces list against GCU (old mark Gonzalo Quiroga, 2011-14 ---194). Ma'a began the week in the career ace lead among active NCAA I-II players, just ahead of Dimitar Kalchev of CSUN (194). Last Saturday at USC, he became the first Bruin with over 200 career aces after recording three to break his own (set in 2016, 58) rally-scoring era school mark and now has a total of 60 aces this season. This weekend, he will take aim on Mark Williams' overall school mark of 63 (set in 2000). Ma'a has also registered the lone triple-double in men's volleyball this season with15 kills, 44 set assists, 15 digs in a match at BYU on Mar. 14. It marked the first triple-double by an MPSF player since Ma'a had one in the 2016 season, also against BYU (10 k, 24 set asst., 14 digs).
AT HOME -- UCLA is 9-1 at home (6-1 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 37-5 in Pauley (2016: 10-1, 2017: 8-1, 2018: 13-2, 2019: 6-1) ... 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).
NCAA STATS -- UCLA began the week 5th in the nation in hitting % (.326) and 6th in Aces/set (1.69) ... It was 6th in kills/set (12.82) and 8th in set assist average (12.11). Daenan Gyimah was 4th in the nation in hitting % (.455) ... Micah Ma'a rated 2nd nationally in aces (0.61 per set).
RECENT UCLA MPSF TOURNAMENT HISTORY — UCLA has won MPSF Tournament titles in 2006, 2001, 2000, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993. 2018 -- #2 UCLA def. #7 Stanford 3-0 in quarterfinals; def. #4 Concordia (at BYU) 3-0 in semis, lost in final at #1 BYU 1-3; 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.
BY THE NUMBERS
• The Bruins own a home record of 16-3 in MPSF Tourney matches --- UCLA is 9-1 in neutral matches and 3-13 in away contests.
• Micah Ma'a has totaled at least 3 aces in 11 matches this season: at USC-3, Grand Canyon-6, at Stanford-5, at BYU-3, at Loyola-3, at UCSD-3, UCSD-3, USC-4, Long Beach-4, BYU-5 and Lindenwood-5 ... He has 19 aces (0.7/set), 58 digs (2.2) and 78 kills (3.0/set) in last 6 matches.
• Micah Ma'a, who began the week 2nd in the NCAA in aces/set (0.61, 1st in MPSF), has at least one ace in 23 of the 26 matches (not CUI-home, at McKendree or at GCU).
• Daenan Gyimah began the week fourth in the NCAA in hitting at .455 (2nd in MPSF) ... The Bruins were rated 5th in the NCAA in hitting % (.326-2nd in MPSF) and 6th in aces/set (1.69-1st in MPSF) to begin the week.
• Daenan Gyimah has totaled 17 matches this season with at least a .400 (not at USC, vs. CUI, vs. GCU, at Pepperdine, at BYU, vs. Pepperdine, at GCU, vs. Princeton and at CSUN) ... He had a streak of 13 straight matches hitting at least .400 stopped at home against Pepperdine (.211).
• UCLA is 18-0 when it hits for a higher % than the opponent ... In 10 home matches in 2019, UCLA is swinging at a .324 clip vs. .212 for opponents and owns a 80-40 edge in aces ... In 14 true away matches - UCLA hits .320 to .305 for opponents and the visitors own a 79-74 ace advantage.
• UCLA is 8-8 this year vs. teams ranked in the AVCA poll at the time of the match, after going 14-7 last season.
• UCLA utilized its 12th different starting lineup of the season in its last outing last Saturday at USC.
• In wins this season, the Bruins have out hit opponents .354 to .193 ... In losses, the team has hit .271 to .386 for opponents.
• UCLA has won the ace battle in 18 matches (15-3) this season; it has come up short this season in a loss (7-8) at USC, loss (4-7) at Pepperdine, loss (3-4) at BYU, loss (3-12) at Long Beach, win (7-9) at Loyola and (2-4) in loss at CSUN ... It was equal in victories at Grand Canyon (1-1) and at Lewis (3-3).
• Brandon Rattray began the week ranked 11th in the MPSF in hitting % at .328 ... He registered a career-best 24 kills at Stanford ... Rattray was 22nd in the NCAA in kills/set to begin this week (3.47) ... He has 253 kills in 2019 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).
• Grant Maleski, who has started the last 18 matches, compiled a career-best 9 kills at UCSB and totaled a career-best 7 block assists in win over Stanford ... He moved inside this season 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 eight times in those 18 starts ... He had a career-best three aces in matches last week against both USC and Concordia ... He had a streak of 8 straight matches with at least one ace eaerlier this season which was stopped at BYU.
• Senior hitter Dylan Missry (returned to starting lineup at Pepperdine-Mar. 27) has at least one service ace in eight of his 15 matches this season ... Missry is seventh on the all-time school list for career aces with 86 (rally scoring era of 2001 to the present). Missry missed 11 matches due to injury before returning to play in a limited role at Stanford and then returning to the starting lineup against Pepperdine, GCU, CUI and at USC.
• MB Matt Younggren registered a UCLA career-best seven kills at Pepperdine ... He posted a season-high six block assists in the back-to-back MPSF home matches vs. BYU and Stanford, has appeared in 14 matches ... Last year, he saw action in 18 contests for UC Irvine.
• Libero Cole Pender has handled 189 of his last 195 serve receptions (.969) with two errors over his last 8 matches.
AVCA Coaches Poll (Apr. 8)
1. Hawaii 240 25-0
2. Long Beach St. 224 23-1
3. UC Santa Barbara 206 17-7
4. Pepperdine 193 20-6
5. USC 169 16-9
6. UCLA 154 18-8
7. Lewis 142 22-5
8. Stanford 121 15-10
9. UC Irvine 114 15-10
10. Loyola-Chicago 101 19-7
11. CSUN 74 11-13
12. BYU 62 12-11
13. Concordia 25 14-18
13. Purdue Ft. Wayne 25 16-11
15. Grand Canyon 22 13-15
Players Mentioned
MB
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MB
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OH
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L/OH
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Opp
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MB
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