Rowing
Former UCLA standout rower Marie Jacquet (France) competed in the Olympics for the first time on Friday at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, finishing in fifth-place in the second heat of the women's quadruple sculls. China and Poland finished first and second, respectively, in the five-boat heat. The remaining three crews from Heat 2 will compete once more in the quadruple sculls repechage (Italy, Australia and France).
Jacquet and her crew will race in the repechage in a six-boat heat against the United States, Australia, Italy, Great Britain and New Zealand. The race is expected to begin on Sunday, July 25 at 10:50 a.m. local time (6:50 p.m. PT on Saturday, July 24 in Los Angeles) and can be streamed on NBCOlympics.com.
Women's Soccer
All four UCLA Women's Soccer alumnae were in action on Saturday as Group Play resumed.
The U.S. rebounded in a big way from a 3-0 loss to Sweden, defeating New Zealand 6-1 to record its largest margin of victory ever in an Olympic tournament. Defender Abby Dahlkemper earned the start and played the full 90. Midfielder Sam Mewis played 23 minutes off the bench.
Canada's Jessie Fleming started and played 90 minutes against Chile in a 2-1 victory. Canada currently sits in second place in the Group E standings with four points. A win on Tuesday against Great Britain would put Canada in first place.
Australian goalkeeper Teagan Micah made her Olympic debut in a starting role against Sweden, who took the 4-2 victory to remain atop the Group G standings with six points.
Group play concludes on Tuesday, July 27 with the U.S. and Australia facing off at 1 a.m. PT on USA and NBCOlympics.com and Canada taking on Great Britain at 4 a.m. PT on NBCOlympics.com.
Softball
The United States softball team improved to 3-0 in round robin play at the Tokyo Games with a 2-0 victory over Mexico on Saturday morning in Japan. Delaney Spaulding started at shortstop and hit seventh. She was 0-for-2 with a walk at the plate and picked up an assist on defense. Ally Carda, Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles did not play. The U.S. is back in action Saturday evening in the U.S. and Sunday morning in Japan, taking on Australia. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT on CNBC and NBCOlympics.com.
Men's Tennis
Jean-Julien Rojer earned the first Olympic Games win of his career, teaming with Wesley Koolhof for a 6-3, 7-6(5) decision over Sander Gillé and Joran Vliegen of Germany in first-round men's doubles play at Ariake Tennis Park on Saturday.
Seeded eighth and representing the Netherlands, Rojer/Koolhof seized four of the opening set's final five games to set the tone. The second was a back-and-forth affair, with neither pair able to claim a lead larger than two games en route to a tiebreaker. There, Gillé/Vliegen looked poised to force a third until Rojer/Koolhof took the last three points and the victory.
Rojer/Koolhof will meet the winner of the match between Egor Gerasimov and Ilya Ivashka of Belarus and Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus of New Zealand in the next round.
Men's Volleyball
Coach John Speraw's U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team opened play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on July 24 with a straight set victory over France. Scores of the Preliminary Round Pool B match were 25-18, 25-18, 25-22. The U.S. was listed fifth in the latest FIVB Senior World Rankings entering the Olympics while France was ranked fourth.
Next up for the U.S. is a battle against the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on July 26 (7:05 p.m. PT on Sunday, July 25), which will be streamed on NBCOlympics.com. The ROC, which opened play with a four-set win over Argentina, captured the gold medal in the 2012 Games and is rated third in the world.
The U.S. men will battle 16th-ranked Tunisia on July 27 before facing the 2016 gold medalists from Brazil, currently listed as the top team in the World, on July 29. The U.S. closes out pool play against 8th-ranked Argentina on August 1.
The top four teams in each of the two pools will advance to the Quarterfinals which will be played on August 2 and 3. Semifinal matches are slated for August 4 and 5. The medal matches will be contested on August 6 and 7.
Women's Water Polo
Team USA opened the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in impressive fashion, routing host Japan, 25-4, and setting three Olympic records in the process. The Americans, which had three Bruin starters, recorded the most goals in a game (25), largest total of goals in a half (14, 1st half), and biggest margin of victory (21).
Maddie Musselman was one of four players from Team USA to score four or more goals as she made 4-of-7 of her shots. Rachel Fattal won three of her four sprints and scored one goal. Defender Alys Williams couldn't convert on any of her three shots, but played solid defense and got the start in her first Olympic Games.
Adam Krikorian, head coach of Team USA, was part of 15 NCAA Championships while at UCLA as a student-athlete, assistant coach, and head coach with the Bruins' men's and women's water polo teams.
Bronte Halligan also got the start for the Aussie Stingers and led Australia to an 8-5 opening round win over Canada with a team- and game-high-tying three goals.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Huntington Beach native Alex Wolf stands tall for U.S. men's water polo – Daily Pilot (Alex Wolf)
Future UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles to strive for gold in Tokyo Olympics – Daily Bruin (Jordan Chiles)
U.S. women's water polo team carries legacy of triumph and tragedy into Olympics – Los Angeles Times (Adam Krikorian, Alys Williams)
Two L.A. Universities Put Their Arch-Rivalry Aside in Japan – NBC LA
Social Media Highlights
UCLA Volleyball represented well in the athlete village.
UCLA tennis alums Marcos Giron and Jennifer Brady in their official Team USA attire.
Soccer's Abby Dahlkemper and teammate Megan Rapinoe had their own Opening Ceremony.
Volleyball player Garrett Muagututia made it to the Opening Ceremony
This is not news to the UCLA family.
Hat Trick Halligan
Former UCLA standout rower Marie Jacquet (France) competed in the Olympics for the first time on Friday at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo, finishing in fifth-place in the second heat of the women's quadruple sculls. China and Poland finished first and second, respectively, in the five-boat heat. The remaining three crews from Heat 2 will compete once more in the quadruple sculls repechage (Italy, Australia and France).
Jacquet and her crew will race in the repechage in a six-boat heat against the United States, Australia, Italy, Great Britain and New Zealand. The race is expected to begin on Sunday, July 25 at 10:50 a.m. local time (6:50 p.m. PT on Saturday, July 24 in Los Angeles) and can be streamed on NBCOlympics.com.
Women's Soccer
All four UCLA Women's Soccer alumnae were in action on Saturday as Group Play resumed.
The U.S. rebounded in a big way from a 3-0 loss to Sweden, defeating New Zealand 6-1 to record its largest margin of victory ever in an Olympic tournament. Defender Abby Dahlkemper earned the start and played the full 90. Midfielder Sam Mewis played 23 minutes off the bench.
Canada's Jessie Fleming started and played 90 minutes against Chile in a 2-1 victory. Canada currently sits in second place in the Group E standings with four points. A win on Tuesday against Great Britain would put Canada in first place.
Australian goalkeeper Teagan Micah made her Olympic debut in a starting role against Sweden, who took the 4-2 victory to remain atop the Group G standings with six points.
Group play concludes on Tuesday, July 27 with the U.S. and Australia facing off at 1 a.m. PT on USA and NBCOlympics.com and Canada taking on Great Britain at 4 a.m. PT on NBCOlympics.com.
Softball
The United States softball team improved to 3-0 in round robin play at the Tokyo Games with a 2-0 victory over Mexico on Saturday morning in Japan. Delaney Spaulding started at shortstop and hit seventh. She was 0-for-2 with a walk at the plate and picked up an assist on defense. Ally Carda, Rachel Garcia and Bubba Nickles did not play. The U.S. is back in action Saturday evening in the U.S. and Sunday morning in Japan, taking on Australia. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. PT on CNBC and NBCOlympics.com.
Men's Tennis
Jean-Julien Rojer earned the first Olympic Games win of his career, teaming with Wesley Koolhof for a 6-3, 7-6(5) decision over Sander Gillé and Joran Vliegen of Germany in first-round men's doubles play at Ariake Tennis Park on Saturday.
Seeded eighth and representing the Netherlands, Rojer/Koolhof seized four of the opening set's final five games to set the tone. The second was a back-and-forth affair, with neither pair able to claim a lead larger than two games en route to a tiebreaker. There, Gillé/Vliegen looked poised to force a third until Rojer/Koolhof took the last three points and the victory.
Rojer/Koolhof will meet the winner of the match between Egor Gerasimov and Ilya Ivashka of Belarus and Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus of New Zealand in the next round.
Men's Volleyball
Coach John Speraw's U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team opened play in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on July 24 with a straight set victory over France. Scores of the Preliminary Round Pool B match were 25-18, 25-18, 25-22. The U.S. was listed fifth in the latest FIVB Senior World Rankings entering the Olympics while France was ranked fourth.
Next up for the U.S. is a battle against the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on July 26 (7:05 p.m. PT on Sunday, July 25), which will be streamed on NBCOlympics.com. The ROC, which opened play with a four-set win over Argentina, captured the gold medal in the 2012 Games and is rated third in the world.
The U.S. men will battle 16th-ranked Tunisia on July 27 before facing the 2016 gold medalists from Brazil, currently listed as the top team in the World, on July 29. The U.S. closes out pool play against 8th-ranked Argentina on August 1.
The top four teams in each of the two pools will advance to the Quarterfinals which will be played on August 2 and 3. Semifinal matches are slated for August 4 and 5. The medal matches will be contested on August 6 and 7.
Women's Water Polo
Team USA opened the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in impressive fashion, routing host Japan, 25-4, and setting three Olympic records in the process. The Americans, which had three Bruin starters, recorded the most goals in a game (25), largest total of goals in a half (14, 1st half), and biggest margin of victory (21).
Maddie Musselman was one of four players from Team USA to score four or more goals as she made 4-of-7 of her shots. Rachel Fattal won three of her four sprints and scored one goal. Defender Alys Williams couldn't convert on any of her three shots, but played solid defense and got the start in her first Olympic Games.
Adam Krikorian, head coach of Team USA, was part of 15 NCAA Championships while at UCLA as a student-athlete, assistant coach, and head coach with the Bruins' men's and women's water polo teams.
Bronte Halligan also got the start for the Aussie Stingers and led Australia to an 8-5 opening round win over Canada with a team- and game-high-tying three goals.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Huntington Beach native Alex Wolf stands tall for U.S. men's water polo – Daily Pilot (Alex Wolf)
Future UCLA gymnast Jordan Chiles to strive for gold in Tokyo Olympics – Daily Bruin (Jordan Chiles)
U.S. women's water polo team carries legacy of triumph and tragedy into Olympics – Los Angeles Times (Adam Krikorian, Alys Williams)
Two L.A. Universities Put Their Arch-Rivalry Aside in Japan – NBC LA
Social Media Highlights
UCLA Volleyball represented well in the athlete village.
Bruins in Tokyo! Team USA will face France in their opening match tomorrow morning. ????????#UCLAOlympians #OlympiansMadeHere#GoBruins #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/ENRCGCC0ml
— UCLA M. Volleyball (@UCLAMVB) July 24, 2021
UCLA tennis alums Marcos Giron and Jennifer Brady in their official Team USA attire.
Bruins @marcos_giron93 and @jennifurbrady95 looking good in the Stars and Stripes!#GoBruins | #OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/HCHPBlbjV2
— UCLA Men's Tennis (@uclatennis) July 23, 2021
Soccer's Abby Dahlkemper and teammate Megan Rapinoe had their own Opening Ceremony.
If you can't go to the #OpeningCeremony, you bring the #OpeningCeremony to you
— U.S. Soccer WNT (@USWNT) July 23, 2021
???? @AbbyDahlkemper
???? @mPinoe (as @S10Bird) pic.twitter.com/rZxNIohrGz
Volleyball player Garrett Muagututia made it to the Opening Ceremony
This is not news to the UCLA family.
By the way you might only realize it in Olympic years but this USA women's water polo team is one of the worlds great teams. And @WaterPoloCoachK is one of the best on the planet.
— Ann Killion (@annkillion) July 24, 2021
Hat Trick Halligan
WHAT A START ?? A hat trick on debut for Bronte Halligan, Lea Yanitsas crucial in goals and an impressive defensive effort for our #AussieStingers in their first game of the #TokyoOlympics, defeating Canada 8-5 ????#TokyoTogether @ausolympicteam pic.twitter.com/Xjk6bBP3Q1
— Water Polo Australia (@WaterpoloAus) July 24, 2021