COMING UP -- UCLA (3-0), ranked No. 3 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, will travel to play at UC San Diego (2-1) on Friday night. UCLA opened the 2020 regular season with a match at Daemen College, in New York on Jan. 2 and came away with a 25-16, 25-16, 25-17 sweep. UCLA outhit the Wildcats .383 to -.081 and recorded 12 aces in the win. The Bruins followed that up with a 3-0 win at George Mason on Jan. 4 (25-22, 30-28, 25-23). UCLA outhit the Patriots .299 to .177. Daenan Gyimah paced the attack with 12 kills. The Bruins concluded their eastern road swing with a five-set win at No. 10 Princeton (25-17, 26-24, 33-35, 16-25, 15-10). Cole Ketrzynski led UCLA with 17 kills and six blocks.
MATCH DAY: Friday, Jan. 17
No. 3 UCLA at UC San Diego
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: https://ucsdtritons.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
Live Video: ESPN3 http://www.espn.com/watch?id=15575977-3f7b-4ac7-8f26-01ca39e91c07
LAST MEETING -- UCLA captured both of last season's matchups against UC San Diego by 3-1 margins. The Bruins won the home match 25-20, 25-13, 23-25, 25-19 while outhitting the Tritons .365 to .066 and serving up 11 aces. The Bruins then won in San Diego 20-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-23 hitting .449, with nine aces (UCSD hit .289).
NOTES -- The Bruins enter the week leading the nation in aces per set (2.73), with Mads Kyed Jensen third in the nation with a 0.91 mark and Austin Matautia seventh at 0.73 ... Cole Ketrzynski's 17 kills at Princeton were the most by a Bruin true freshman player since Micah Ma'a put down 18 balls against Hawai'i in February of 2016 ... Austin Matautia tallied a career-best four aces in the win at George Mason as UCLA enjoyed an 8-2 edge over the Patriots from the service line ... The Bruins used 15 players the opener at Daemen ... Five -- Cole Ketrzynski, Alex Knight (team-high six kills), Cole Power, Daniel Matheney, Mads Kyed Jensen (team-high 4 aces) -- made thier collegiate debuts in the match ... The last time UCLA held an opponent below .000 hitting% was in 2015 (Cal Baptist -.011) ... UCLA was ranked No. 2 to open the season for the second consecutive season ... The Bruins finished No. 7 in the final 2019 AVCA Coaches poll after seeing their season end with a loss in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament ... UCLA has ended a season ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll a record nine times (1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995,1996, 1998, 2000, 2006) ... In 2019, the Bruins finished 9-9 against teams ranked in the AVCA poll at the time of the match ... Daenan Gyimah has earned first-team AVCA All-America honors in each of the last two seasons and also has been the recipient of the Ryan Millar Award as the nation's top middle attacker ... Gyimah hit at least .400 in 17 matches last season and finished fourth in the nation with a .432 mark ... He set a school record with a .917 hitting percentage against McKendree last season (11k-0e-12att) ... As a team, UCLA outhit teams .352 to . 195 margin in its 19 wins in the 2019 season.
NCAA STATS -- UCLA leads the nation in aces average (2.73) and is seventh in hitting % .335 ... Last season, UCLA finished fifth in the nation in hitting percentage (.323) and fifth in aces per set (1.73). Daenan Gyimah is currently 10th nationally in hitting % at .435.
SCHEDULE --- The first home match for the Bruins will be on Jan. 30 against Princeton in the John Wooden Center.
ON THE ROAD -- UCLA, 3-0 so far in 2020, was 7-7 on the road last season, with a 2-1 mark in neutral site contests.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Daenan Gyimah opened 2020 by hitting .714 at Daemen (5k-0a-7 att) and is ranked 10th in the NCAA at .435 ... He finished fourth in the NCAA in hitting% in 2019 (.432) ... He hit over .400 in 17 matches last season, including a streak of 13 straight matches ... In 2018, Gyimah led the NCAA in hitting percentage at .528.
• Austin Matautia, who had a career-best four aces at George Mason, is ranked seventh in the NCAA in aces average at 0.73 ... He is on the 2020 Karch Kiraly Watch List which recognizes the nation's top outside hitter.
• Mads Kyed Jensen, who tallied four aces in the season-opener at Daemen and is ranked third in the NCAA in aces at 0.91, is on the 2020 Lloy Ball Watch List as one of the nation's top setters.
• The Bruins equaled the school mark with seven aces in a set (second set) in a home match against UC San Diego last season ... UCLA had six aces in the second set at Daemen to open the 2020 campaign.
• MB Matt Younggren had 7 kills at Princeton to equal his UCLA career-high ... In 2019, he led or tied for the team lead in blocks in four of the final five matches of year ... He posted a 2019 season-high six block assists in the back-to-back MPSF home matches vs. BYU and Stanford.
• True freshmen Kyle Vom Steeg, Marcus Partain, Alex Knight, Merrick McHenry, Cole Power and Ethan Hill were each named to the 2019 VolleyballMag.com Fab 50 list.
• Freshman Alex Knight, who has been a starter in the first three matches of 2020, was named the 2019 Volleyballmag.com National High School Player of the Year ... Played on the U.S. Youth National Teams at the NORCECA U19 championships in summer 2018 and 2019.
• Freshman Mads Keyd Jensen was named the top setter in the Danish League for 2018 and 2019.
• Freshman Cole Ketrzynski helped lead teams to the 2018 and 2019 Privincial and National Indoor Championships in Canada.
• Last off-season, Head Coach John Speraw directed the U.S. Men's National Team to qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by winning their Intercontinental Qualifying pool, secured a bronze medal at the FIVB World Cup and a silver in the Volleyball Nation's League.
MATCH DAY: Friday, Jan. 17
No. 3 UCLA at UC San Diego
Time: 7:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: https://ucsdtritons.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
Live Video: ESPN3 http://www.espn.com/watch?id=15575977-3f7b-4ac7-8f26-01ca39e91c07
LAST MEETING -- UCLA captured both of last season's matchups against UC San Diego by 3-1 margins. The Bruins won the home match 25-20, 25-13, 23-25, 25-19 while outhitting the Tritons .365 to .066 and serving up 11 aces. The Bruins then won in San Diego 20-25, 25-17, 25-15, 25-23 hitting .449, with nine aces (UCSD hit .289).
NOTES -- The Bruins enter the week leading the nation in aces per set (2.73), with Mads Kyed Jensen third in the nation with a 0.91 mark and Austin Matautia seventh at 0.73 ... Cole Ketrzynski's 17 kills at Princeton were the most by a Bruin true freshman player since Micah Ma'a put down 18 balls against Hawai'i in February of 2016 ... Austin Matautia tallied a career-best four aces in the win at George Mason as UCLA enjoyed an 8-2 edge over the Patriots from the service line ... The Bruins used 15 players the opener at Daemen ... Five -- Cole Ketrzynski, Alex Knight (team-high six kills), Cole Power, Daniel Matheney, Mads Kyed Jensen (team-high 4 aces) -- made thier collegiate debuts in the match ... The last time UCLA held an opponent below .000 hitting% was in 2015 (Cal Baptist -.011) ... UCLA was ranked No. 2 to open the season for the second consecutive season ... The Bruins finished No. 7 in the final 2019 AVCA Coaches poll after seeing their season end with a loss in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament ... UCLA has ended a season ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll a record nine times (1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995,1996, 1998, 2000, 2006) ... In 2019, the Bruins finished 9-9 against teams ranked in the AVCA poll at the time of the match ... Daenan Gyimah has earned first-team AVCA All-America honors in each of the last two seasons and also has been the recipient of the Ryan Millar Award as the nation's top middle attacker ... Gyimah hit at least .400 in 17 matches last season and finished fourth in the nation with a .432 mark ... He set a school record with a .917 hitting percentage against McKendree last season (11k-0e-12att) ... As a team, UCLA outhit teams .352 to . 195 margin in its 19 wins in the 2019 season.
NCAA STATS -- UCLA leads the nation in aces average (2.73) and is seventh in hitting % .335 ... Last season, UCLA finished fifth in the nation in hitting percentage (.323) and fifth in aces per set (1.73). Daenan Gyimah is currently 10th nationally in hitting % at .435.
SCHEDULE --- The first home match for the Bruins will be on Jan. 30 against Princeton in the John Wooden Center.
ON THE ROAD -- UCLA, 3-0 so far in 2020, was 7-7 on the road last season, with a 2-1 mark in neutral site contests.
BY THE NUMBERS
• Daenan Gyimah opened 2020 by hitting .714 at Daemen (5k-0a-7 att) and is ranked 10th in the NCAA at .435 ... He finished fourth in the NCAA in hitting% in 2019 (.432) ... He hit over .400 in 17 matches last season, including a streak of 13 straight matches ... In 2018, Gyimah led the NCAA in hitting percentage at .528.
• Austin Matautia, who had a career-best four aces at George Mason, is ranked seventh in the NCAA in aces average at 0.73 ... He is on the 2020 Karch Kiraly Watch List which recognizes the nation's top outside hitter.
• Mads Kyed Jensen, who tallied four aces in the season-opener at Daemen and is ranked third in the NCAA in aces at 0.91, is on the 2020 Lloy Ball Watch List as one of the nation's top setters.
• The Bruins equaled the school mark with seven aces in a set (second set) in a home match against UC San Diego last season ... UCLA had six aces in the second set at Daemen to open the 2020 campaign.
• MB Matt Younggren had 7 kills at Princeton to equal his UCLA career-high ... In 2019, he led or tied for the team lead in blocks in four of the final five matches of year ... He posted a 2019 season-high six block assists in the back-to-back MPSF home matches vs. BYU and Stanford.
• True freshmen Kyle Vom Steeg, Marcus Partain, Alex Knight, Merrick McHenry, Cole Power and Ethan Hill were each named to the 2019 VolleyballMag.com Fab 50 list.
• Freshman Alex Knight, who has been a starter in the first three matches of 2020, was named the 2019 Volleyballmag.com National High School Player of the Year ... Played on the U.S. Youth National Teams at the NORCECA U19 championships in summer 2018 and 2019.
• Freshman Mads Keyd Jensen was named the top setter in the Danish League for 2018 and 2019.
• Freshman Cole Ketrzynski helped lead teams to the 2018 and 2019 Privincial and National Indoor Championships in Canada.
• Last off-season, Head Coach John Speraw directed the U.S. Men's National Team to qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics by winning their Intercontinental Qualifying pool, secured a bronze medal at the FIVB World Cup and a silver in the Volleyball Nation's League.