Photo by: Ross Turteltaub
MVB Returns to MPSF Action at Pepperdine Friday
March 11, 2020 | Men's Volleyball
THIS WEEK -- UCLA (10-9, 2-3), ranked No. 9 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, returns to play in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) with a match on Friday night at No. 8 Pepperdine (7-6, 3-2). The Bruins will then break for exams before returning to the court on Mar. 25 to host Pepperdine in a rematch in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. (Note-Essential match personnel only will be in attendance at UCLA home athletics events through April 10.)
MATCH INFO.
Mar. 13 - No. 9 UCLA at No. 8 Pepperdine - 7 p.m.
Live Stats - https://pepperdinewaves.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
Live Video - https://watchstadium.com/live/ucla-at-pepperdine-2/
(note - Pepperdine has announced that this match will be held without fans of the two teams)
Last week, the Bruins hit .427 and earned a four-set win over No. 6 UC San Diego (25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21) with UCLA middle blockers recording 32 kills. UCLA posted a four-set win over CSUN (26-24, 25-21, 25-27, 25-22) on Thursday. Daenan Gyimah led UCLA with 14 kills, three aces and five blocks. The Bruins had a season-high 23 block assists in the match. On Tuesday, UCLA dropped a four-set verdict at No. 3 UC Santa Barbara (25-23, 18-25, 16-25, 20-25). The Bruins hit a season-low .057 for the match. Gyimah was the only Bruin player in double-digit kills with 10.
LAST MEETING -- UCLA split a couple of meetings with Pepperdine last season, with each team winning on its home court -- at UCLA (29-31, 17-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-9) -- at Pepperdine (21-25, 31-29, 16-25, 17-25). The Waves captured the MPSF regular season and tournament championship in 2019. The Bruins' last win at Pepperdine came in the 2017 season.
NOTES -- Daenan Gyimah has hit at least .400 in 11 of the 14 matches he has played in this season and began the week leading the MPSF and ranked sixth in the NCAA in hitting % (.492) ... Gyimah, who had double-digit kills in his last 6 matches, has earned first-team AVCA All-America honors in each of the last two seasons while also being the recipient of the Ryan Millar Award as the nation's top middle attacker ... UCSB (3/3 .057 and 2/19 .169) and UCSD (1/17 .179) and are the only opponents to hold UCLA under .200 hitting % this season ... In matches it has won this season, UCLA is outhitting the opponents .356 to .201, leading at the service line in aces 83 to 37 and in blocks/s 2.5 to 1.7 --- In losses, UCLA is hitting .241 to .380 for its opponents; is even at the service line 50 aces to 50 and trails in blocks/s 1.7 to 2.3 ... UCLA's .489 hitting percentage in win at Ohio State is the highest by a NCAA team in four-set match this season ... Mads Kyed Jensen has at least four aces in six matches this season (Daemen-4, at Princeton-5, Penn State-5, Ohio State-4, USC-4, Long Beach-5) ... Kyed Jensen has 27 kills over the last 5 matches, with 12 aces and 15 blocks ... Sam Kobrine has totaled 25 kills, 25 digs and 7 blocks over the last 5 matches ... Cole Ketrzynski, who missed the previous three matches due to injury returned to the court against CSUN ... Ketrzynski's 17 kills in the win at Concordia (most by a Bruin true freshman since Micah Ma'a put down 18 balls against Hawai'i in Feb. 2016) tied his season-high (also 17 at Long Beach, v. Ohio State, at Princeton) ... UCLA recorded a season-best 14.0 total blocks in win at Long Beach with then season-highs from Matt Younggren (7), Mads Kyed Jensen (4), Grant Maleski (4) and Alex Knight (4) ... The Bruins posted a season-best 23 block assists in the home win over CSUN (Gyimah-5, S. Kobrine-4, Alex Knight-4). ... Austin Matautia, who had three aces against Long Beach(h), has at least two aces in nine matches this season ... UCLA had a season-high 13 aces in its win over Ohio State ... Matt Younggren posted a career-high four aces in the win at Concordia ... Cole Pender made his first starts at outside hitter in wins at Concordia (4ba) and vs. USC (8k, 3ba) ... Daniel Matheney has 15 kills and 8 blocks in last 3 matches ... Sam Burgi saw his first career action at George Mason, Kevin Kobrine debuted at UCSD, Ian Eschenberg made his first appearance of 2020 at Long Beach.
ON THE ROAD -- UCLA, 6-6 so far in 2020, was 7-7 on the road last season, with a 2-1 mark in neutral site contests.
NCAA STATS -- UCLA entered the week third in the nation in aces average (1.90) and 11th in hitting % .296 ... Last season, UCLA finished fifth in the nation in hitting percentage (.323) and fifth in aces per set (1.73).
AT HOME -- UCLA, 3-3 overall at home this season (2-0 Pauley, 1-3 in Wooden Center) in 2020, was 10-1 at home (7-1 in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom, 3-0 in the Wooden) last season ... UCLA had won its last nine matches played in Wooden Center before dropping the 2020 season-opener to Princeton on Jan. 30. Over the past four-plus seasons, UCLA is 40-5 in Pauley (2016: 10-1--lost to UCI, 2017: 8-1--CSUN, 2018: 13-2--Long Beach 2xs, 2019: 7-1--Long Beach, 2020: 2-0).
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Standings (3/11)
BYU 6-0
Grand Canyon 4-2
Pepperdine 3-2
UCLA 2-3
Stanford 2-4
Concordia 2-4
USC 1-5
MATCH INFO.
Mar. 13 - No. 9 UCLA at No. 8 Pepperdine - 7 p.m.
Live Stats - https://pepperdinewaves.com/sidearmstats/mvball/summary
Live Video - https://watchstadium.com/live/ucla-at-pepperdine-2/
(note - Pepperdine has announced that this match will be held without fans of the two teams)
Last week, the Bruins hit .427 and earned a four-set win over No. 6 UC San Diego (25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 25-21) with UCLA middle blockers recording 32 kills. UCLA posted a four-set win over CSUN (26-24, 25-21, 25-27, 25-22) on Thursday. Daenan Gyimah led UCLA with 14 kills, three aces and five blocks. The Bruins had a season-high 23 block assists in the match. On Tuesday, UCLA dropped a four-set verdict at No. 3 UC Santa Barbara (25-23, 18-25, 16-25, 20-25). The Bruins hit a season-low .057 for the match. Gyimah was the only Bruin player in double-digit kills with 10.
LAST MEETING -- UCLA split a couple of meetings with Pepperdine last season, with each team winning on its home court -- at UCLA (29-31, 17-25, 25-20, 25-18, 15-9) -- at Pepperdine (21-25, 31-29, 16-25, 17-25). The Waves captured the MPSF regular season and tournament championship in 2019. The Bruins' last win at Pepperdine came in the 2017 season.
NOTES -- Daenan Gyimah has hit at least .400 in 11 of the 14 matches he has played in this season and began the week leading the MPSF and ranked sixth in the NCAA in hitting % (.492) ... Gyimah, who had double-digit kills in his last 6 matches, has earned first-team AVCA All-America honors in each of the last two seasons while also being the recipient of the Ryan Millar Award as the nation's top middle attacker ... UCSB (3/3 .057 and 2/19 .169) and UCSD (1/17 .179) and are the only opponents to hold UCLA under .200 hitting % this season ... In matches it has won this season, UCLA is outhitting the opponents .356 to .201, leading at the service line in aces 83 to 37 and in blocks/s 2.5 to 1.7 --- In losses, UCLA is hitting .241 to .380 for its opponents; is even at the service line 50 aces to 50 and trails in blocks/s 1.7 to 2.3 ... UCLA's .489 hitting percentage in win at Ohio State is the highest by a NCAA team in four-set match this season ... Mads Kyed Jensen has at least four aces in six matches this season (Daemen-4, at Princeton-5, Penn State-5, Ohio State-4, USC-4, Long Beach-5) ... Kyed Jensen has 27 kills over the last 5 matches, with 12 aces and 15 blocks ... Sam Kobrine has totaled 25 kills, 25 digs and 7 blocks over the last 5 matches ... Cole Ketrzynski, who missed the previous three matches due to injury returned to the court against CSUN ... Ketrzynski's 17 kills in the win at Concordia (most by a Bruin true freshman since Micah Ma'a put down 18 balls against Hawai'i in Feb. 2016) tied his season-high (also 17 at Long Beach, v. Ohio State, at Princeton) ... UCLA recorded a season-best 14.0 total blocks in win at Long Beach with then season-highs from Matt Younggren (7), Mads Kyed Jensen (4), Grant Maleski (4) and Alex Knight (4) ... The Bruins posted a season-best 23 block assists in the home win over CSUN (Gyimah-5, S. Kobrine-4, Alex Knight-4). ... Austin Matautia, who had three aces against Long Beach(h), has at least two aces in nine matches this season ... UCLA had a season-high 13 aces in its win over Ohio State ... Matt Younggren posted a career-high four aces in the win at Concordia ... Cole Pender made his first starts at outside hitter in wins at Concordia (4ba) and vs. USC (8k, 3ba) ... Daniel Matheney has 15 kills and 8 blocks in last 3 matches ... Sam Burgi saw his first career action at George Mason, Kevin Kobrine debuted at UCSD, Ian Eschenberg made his first appearance of 2020 at Long Beach.
ON THE ROAD -- UCLA, 6-6 so far in 2020, was 7-7 on the road last season, with a 2-1 mark in neutral site contests.
NCAA STATS -- UCLA entered the week third in the nation in aces average (1.90) and 11th in hitting % .296 ... Last season, UCLA finished fifth in the nation in hitting percentage (.323) and fifth in aces per set (1.73).
AT HOME -- UCLA, 3-3 overall at home this season (2-0 Pauley, 1-3 in Wooden Center) in 2020, was 10-1 at home (7-1 in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom, 3-0 in the Wooden) last season ... UCLA had won its last nine matches played in Wooden Center before dropping the 2020 season-opener to Princeton on Jan. 30. Over the past four-plus seasons, UCLA is 40-5 in Pauley (2016: 10-1--lost to UCI, 2017: 8-1--CSUN, 2018: 13-2--Long Beach 2xs, 2019: 7-1--Long Beach, 2020: 2-0).
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Standings (3/11)
BYU 6-0
Grand Canyon 4-2
Pepperdine 3-2
UCLA 2-3
Stanford 2-4
Concordia 2-4
USC 1-5
Players Mentioned
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