MVB Travels to Play at Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge

Cole Pender

Photo by: Don Liebig/ASUCLA

MVB Travels to Play at Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge

January 22, 2020 | Men's Volleyball

COMING UP -- UCLA (3-1), ranked No. 6 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, will travel to play No. 10 Penn State and Ohio State in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge at Penn State. The Bruins will meet Penn State (2-2, from the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) on Friday night Jan. 24 (4 p.m. PT) and square off against Ohio State (5-0, from the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) on Sunday morning Jan. 26 (10:30 am PT).

The four teams competing in the weekend event own a total of 28 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships --- UCLA (1970, 1971, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1989, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2006), Ohio State (2011, 2016, 2017), Penn State (1994, 2008), USC (1977, 1980, 1988, 1990). UCLA defeated Penn State to win its last NCAA MVB Championship in 2006, as well as to secure titles in 1995 and 1982. The Bruins topped Ohio State in the final to bring home the NCAA title in 2000. The Buckeyes knocked the Bruins out of the NCAA tournament in five sets at the semifinal round in 2016.

The Bruins will play their first home contest of the season next Thursday against No. 13 Princeton. UCLA dropped a straight set decision (22-25, 17-25, 21-25) last Saturday at UC San Diego. Austin Matautia led the Bruins with 10 kills (.474), but the Bruins were outhit (.179 to .360), out aced (4-6) and out blocked (3.0 to 5.0). Penn State defeated then-No. 12 Loyola-Chicago and then-No. 5 Lewis on the road last weekend after opening the season with a pair of straight-set losses at No. 2 BYU. Ohio State has lost just one set all season while going 5-0 and will play USC (1-4) on Friday before meeting the Bruins Sunday morning.

MATCH DAY: Friday, Jan. 24
No. 6 UCLA at No. 10 Penn State
Time: 4:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: https://gopsusports.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
Live Video: BTN+ (subscription) https://www.btnplus.com/game/ucla-at-penn-st-on-01242020

MATCH DAY: Sunday, Jan. 26
No. 6 UCLA vs. Ohio State (at Penn State)
Time: 10:30 a.m. PT
Live Stats:https://gopsusports.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
Live Video: BTN+ (subscription) https://www.btnplus.com/game/ohio-st-at-ucla-on-01262020

LAST MEETING -- UCLA defeated both teams in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge, held last season at USC, in straight sets --- d. Penn State (25-12, 25-19, 25-21), d. Ohio State (25-21, 25-20, 25-21). The Bruins hit .530 against Penn State and were led by Daenan Gyimah's 11 kills (hit .733). The Bruins limited OSU to .017 hitting percentage and outblocked the Buckeyes 10.0 to 5.0. Austin Matautia led UCLA with nine kills and two aces.

NOTES -- 10 Bruins have earned a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for Fall Quarter 2019 - Ethan Hill, Mads Kyed Jensen, Cole Ketrzynski, Alex Knight, Sam Kobrine, Grant Maleski, Austin Matautia, Chris Orem, Marcus Partain, Cole Power ... The Bruins enter the week leading the nation in aces per set (2.43), with Mads Kyed Jensen eighth in the nation with a 0.71 mark and Austin Matautia 10th at 0.64 ... 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 their collegiate debuts in the match ... Sam Burgi made his initial collegiate appearance at George Mason ... Kevin Kobrine made his debut at UC San Diego ... The last time UCLA held an opponent below .000 hitting% prior to Daemen (-.081) was in 2015 (Cal Baptist -.011) ... UCLA was ranked No. 2 in the AVCA poll to open the season for the second consecutive year ... 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.

NCAA STATS -- UCLA leads the nation in aces average (2.43) and is 13th in hitting % .296 ... Last season, UCLA finished fifth in the nation in hitting percentage (.323) and fifth in aces per set (1.73). Daenan Gyimah is currently tied for 5th nationally in hitting % at .462.

SCHEDULE --- The first home match for the Bruins will be on Jan. 30 against Princeton in the John Wooden Center at 7 p.m.

ON THE ROAD -- UCLA, 3-1 so far in 2020, was 7-7 on the road last season, with a 2-1 mark in neutral site contests.

BY THE NUMBERS
• Austin Matautia, who had a career-best four aces at George Mason, is ranked 10th in the NCAA in aces average at 0.64 ... He is on the 2020 Karch Kiraly Watch List which recognizes the nation's top outside hitter.
• Freshman Mads Kyed Jensen, who tallied four aces in the season-opener at Daemen and is ranked 8th in the NCAA in aces at 0.71, is on the 2020 Lloy Ball Watch List as one of the nation's top setters.
• Daenan Gyimah, who missed the UCSD match due to injury, opened 2020 by hitting .714 at Daemen (5k-0a-7 att) and is ranked tied for 5th in the NCAA at .462 ... 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.
• UCLA leads the nation in service aces average (2.43) and has out aced its first four opponents by a total of 34-15 ... In wins this season, UCLA is +21 in service aces over the opponent -- in its loss it was -2.
• UCLA, 3-0 so far in 2020 when hitting for a higher hitting percentage than the opponent, was 19-0 in 2019 when it hit for a higher %... In 11 home matches in 2019, UCLA hit at a .323 clip vs. .213 for opponents ... In 14 true away matches in 2019 - UCLA hit .320 to .305 for opponents - so far in 2020: UCLA is enjoying a hitting .296 to .201 advantage in road matches.
• UCLA, 1-0 in 2020, was 9-9 last year vs. teams ranked in the AVCA poll at the time of the match.
• In wins this season, UCLA is hitting .335 to .143 for the opponent -- in the 2019 season, the Bruins out hit opponents .352 to .195 ... In losses, the opponent hit .382 against the Bruins who hit .268 -- in its loss this season the opponent hit .360 to UCLA's .179 mark.
• The Bruins are 2-0 in 2020 when holding the opponent at or below .200 hitting percentage (were 9-0 in 2019).
• Libero Cole Pender registered a 94% serve receive percentage on 494 attempts in 2019. He was named to the MPSF All-Freshman team.
• 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.
• Freshmen Kyle Vom Steeg, Marcus Partain, Alex Knight, Merrick McHenry, Cole Power and Ethan Hill each were on 2019 VolleyballMag.com Fab 50 list.