Women's Basketball
Nirra Fields and Team Canada earned their first win of the Tokyo Games with a convincing 74-53 victory over South Korea. Fields tallied six points in 17 minutes of game action, adding three rebounds and two assists in the performance. She also recorded a block and a steal on the defensive end. Fields is averaging 12.5 points per game at Tokyo 2020 after recording a game-high 19 points in Canada's opening-day game against Serbia. Canada is back in action for its final game of Group A with a matchup against Spain on Saturday, July 31 at 6:00 p.m. PT.
Angela Dugalic did not play for Serbia in the team's 85-70 loss to Spain. Serbia plays its final game of Group A on Sunday, Aug. 1, taking on South Korea at 5:00 a.m. PT.
UCLA sees its next action with Atonye Nyingifa and Nigeria taking on France on Friday, July 30 at 1:20 a.m. PT on NBCOlympics.com. Nyingifa scored five points and added three assists in the team's hard-fought loss to Team USA on Monday evening.
Beach Volleyball
The Bruins' Sarah Sponcil and her partner Kelly Claes improved to 2-0 in pool play with an easy 21-8, 21-6 win over Kenya's Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Khadambi on Thursday. The match took just 25 minutes to complete, the fastest win in Olympic Beach Volleyball competition since 2004. Sponcil had eight kills, and match-highs of 12 digs and five aces.
The duo will close out preliminary action with the top seed in Pool D, Brazil's Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Rebecca Silva. The match is slated for Saturday, July 31 at 9:00 a.m. local time, 5:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, July 30 on USA Network and NBCOlympics.com.
Men's Water Polo
Team USA jumped out to an early 4-0 lead but made mistakes down the stretch, and Italy capitalized to claim a 12-11 win in Group A. The U.S. led for the first 29:38 of the game, but Italy tied it at 11-11 with 2:22 to go in the fourth quarter and then made the eventual game-winning goal on a power play with 1:40 remaining. It was Team USA's first loss at the Tokyo Olympics (2-0-1) while Italy improved to 2-1-0.
Max Irving was in the starting lineup for the third straight game and scored two goals on just two shots. His last goal came on a power play at the 6:12 mark of the final period and gave the Americans a 10-9 lead. Irving also registered one field block. Reserve goalkeeper Alex Wolf did not play.
Up next for Team USA will be a pool play match with Hungary (2-0-1) on Saturday, July 31 at 2:00 p.m. local time, 10:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, July 30. The game is slated to be televised on USA Network and streamed on NBCOlympics.com.
Gymnastics
Redshirt freshman Brooklyn Moors hit four-for-four in the all-around final and finished 16th with a score of 53.299 to complete her Olympic Games. Moors started her meet on balance beam and had a hit routine but with two balance checks and scored 12.433. She made up ground in the second rotation with unmatched artistry in her floor exercise routine, scoring 13.566, the eighth-best floor score on the day, which moved her up to 16th in the standings. She made a big leap up to 10th in rotation three after scoring 14.300 on vault and completed her competition with a 13.00 on uneven bars.
Baseball
Zack Weiss pitched two innings in relief as Israel opened its Olympic schedule with a 6-5, extra innings loss to South Korea on Thursday.
Weiss entered the game with two on and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, inducing a foul out on the first base side to get Israel out of the inning without any damage. He then tossed a scoreless sixth, allowing just one baserunner (on a walk) and striking out a pair. Weiss ended his outing with a final line of four hits, three runs (all earned), one walk, and three strikeouts over two innings.
Israel continues group play with a matchup against the United States – featuring Weiss's former UCLA teammate Eric Filia – on Friday starting at 3:00 a.m. PT on NBCOlympics.com.
Tennis
Ena Shibahara suffered a heartbreaking end to her first Olympic Games experience, dropping a match-deciding tiebreaker with partner Ben McLachlan in the mixed doubles quarterfinal round. Shibahara and McLachlan, representing host Japan, were outlasted by fourth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee, 7-5, 6-7(0), 1-0(8). Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev will have the chance to play for a medal after reaching the semifinals.
The first break of serve in the opening set came in the final game, as Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev ensured a tiebreaker would not be needed. The pairs traded breaks to close out the second, setting up extra play that Shibahara and McLachlan controlled without dropping a point. That left the winner to be determined by a first-to-10 third frame. Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev took an 8-4 lead after securing three straight points, but Shibahara and McLachlan answered with three in a row of their own. Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev secured two of the next three, however, and the win.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Flower Mound's Emma Malabuyo Reflects on Olympic Experience, Biles Withdrawal – NBC DWF (Emma Malabuyo)
Rancho Cucamonga Olympian Almost Didn't Make it to Tokyo After Knee Injury Last Year – NBC Los Angeles (Delaney Spaulding)
Social Media Highlights
Zack Weiss arriving from the bullpen in style
Jrue Holiday hopes to add a medal to the family collection
UCLA Gymnastics fans get to see Brooklyn Moors' artistry in Pauley the next four years.
Nirra Fields and Team Canada earned their first win of the Tokyo Games with a convincing 74-53 victory over South Korea. Fields tallied six points in 17 minutes of game action, adding three rebounds and two assists in the performance. She also recorded a block and a steal on the defensive end. Fields is averaging 12.5 points per game at Tokyo 2020 after recording a game-high 19 points in Canada's opening-day game against Serbia. Canada is back in action for its final game of Group A with a matchup against Spain on Saturday, July 31 at 6:00 p.m. PT.
Angela Dugalic did not play for Serbia in the team's 85-70 loss to Spain. Serbia plays its final game of Group A on Sunday, Aug. 1, taking on South Korea at 5:00 a.m. PT.
UCLA sees its next action with Atonye Nyingifa and Nigeria taking on France on Friday, July 30 at 1:20 a.m. PT on NBCOlympics.com. Nyingifa scored five points and added three assists in the team's hard-fought loss to Team USA on Monday evening.
Beach Volleyball
The Bruins' Sarah Sponcil and her partner Kelly Claes improved to 2-0 in pool play with an easy 21-8, 21-6 win over Kenya's Gaudencia Makokha and Brackcides Khadambi on Thursday. The match took just 25 minutes to complete, the fastest win in Olympic Beach Volleyball competition since 2004. Sponcil had eight kills, and match-highs of 12 digs and five aces.
The duo will close out preliminary action with the top seed in Pool D, Brazil's Ana Patricia Silva Ramos and Rebecca Silva. The match is slated for Saturday, July 31 at 9:00 a.m. local time, 5:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, July 30 on USA Network and NBCOlympics.com.
Men's Water Polo
Team USA jumped out to an early 4-0 lead but made mistakes down the stretch, and Italy capitalized to claim a 12-11 win in Group A. The U.S. led for the first 29:38 of the game, but Italy tied it at 11-11 with 2:22 to go in the fourth quarter and then made the eventual game-winning goal on a power play with 1:40 remaining. It was Team USA's first loss at the Tokyo Olympics (2-0-1) while Italy improved to 2-1-0.
Max Irving was in the starting lineup for the third straight game and scored two goals on just two shots. His last goal came on a power play at the 6:12 mark of the final period and gave the Americans a 10-9 lead. Irving also registered one field block. Reserve goalkeeper Alex Wolf did not play.
Up next for Team USA will be a pool play match with Hungary (2-0-1) on Saturday, July 31 at 2:00 p.m. local time, 10:00 p.m. PDT on Friday, July 30. The game is slated to be televised on USA Network and streamed on NBCOlympics.com.
Gymnastics
Redshirt freshman Brooklyn Moors hit four-for-four in the all-around final and finished 16th with a score of 53.299 to complete her Olympic Games. Moors started her meet on balance beam and had a hit routine but with two balance checks and scored 12.433. She made up ground in the second rotation with unmatched artistry in her floor exercise routine, scoring 13.566, the eighth-best floor score on the day, which moved her up to 16th in the standings. She made a big leap up to 10th in rotation three after scoring 14.300 on vault and completed her competition with a 13.00 on uneven bars.
Baseball
Zack Weiss pitched two innings in relief as Israel opened its Olympic schedule with a 6-5, extra innings loss to South Korea on Thursday.
Weiss entered the game with two on and two outs in the bottom of the fifth, inducing a foul out on the first base side to get Israel out of the inning without any damage. He then tossed a scoreless sixth, allowing just one baserunner (on a walk) and striking out a pair. Weiss ended his outing with a final line of four hits, three runs (all earned), one walk, and three strikeouts over two innings.
Israel continues group play with a matchup against the United States – featuring Weiss's former UCLA teammate Eric Filia – on Friday starting at 3:00 a.m. PT on NBCOlympics.com.
Tennis
Ena Shibahara suffered a heartbreaking end to her first Olympic Games experience, dropping a match-deciding tiebreaker with partner Ben McLachlan in the mixed doubles quarterfinal round. Shibahara and McLachlan, representing host Japan, were outlasted by fourth-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee, 7-5, 6-7(0), 1-0(8). Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev will have the chance to play for a medal after reaching the semifinals.
The first break of serve in the opening set came in the final game, as Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev ensured a tiebreaker would not be needed. The pairs traded breaks to close out the second, setting up extra play that Shibahara and McLachlan controlled without dropping a point. That left the winner to be determined by a first-to-10 third frame. Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev took an 8-4 lead after securing three straight points, but Shibahara and McLachlan answered with three in a row of their own. Pavlyuchenkova and Rublev secured two of the next three, however, and the win.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Flower Mound's Emma Malabuyo Reflects on Olympic Experience, Biles Withdrawal – NBC DWF (Emma Malabuyo)
Rancho Cucamonga Olympian Almost Didn't Make it to Tokyo After Knee Injury Last Year – NBC Los Angeles (Delaney Spaulding)
Social Media Highlights
Zack Weiss arriving from the bullpen in style
This bullpen car is the best thing to happen in Olympic history, don't @ me.
— Avi Miller ?? (@AviMiIIer) July 29, 2021
Here's Zack Weiss taking it for a spin. Coming in B5 for @ILBaseball. pic.twitter.com/TL9ez6vstd
Jrue Holiday hopes to add a medal to the family collection
Two Olympic gold medals already reside in @Jrue_Holiday11's home & both belong to his wife & former @USWNT star Lauren.#Tokyo2020 is Jrue's chance to up that total & he's doing it with her experience in mind. pic.twitter.com/CA6Ny1XENC
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) July 28, 2021
UCLA Gymnastics fans get to see Brooklyn Moors' artistry in Pauley the next four years.
Everything Brooklyn does is just... pretty. Can't wait to see her at @uclagymnastics ????
— Samantha Peszek (@samanthapeszek) July 29, 2021