Men's Volleyball
The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team, coached by UCLA's John Speraw, dropped a four-set decision to the world's top-ranked team from Brazil on Thursday night in a Preliminary Round Pool B contest. Scores of the match were 32-30, 23-25, 21-25, 20-25. The U.S. now owns a 2-2 record, while Brazil, which captured the gold medal at the Rio Games in 2016, improved to 3-1 and clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team sits at the top of Pool B with a 3-0 record, including wins over both the U.S. and Brazil.
Mitch Stahl (UCLA 2014-17) started the match at middle blocker and delivered six kills, one dig and a block for the Americans. Garrett Muagututia (UCLA 2007-10) did not record stats in an appearance as a reserve.
The U.S. closes out pool play against 8th-ranked Argentina (1-2, with a match to play later today against Tunisia) on Sunday at 5:45 a.m. PT. The U.S. has advanced to the last four quarterfinal rounds of the Olympic competitions and won the Olympic gold medal in 1984, 1988 and 2008.
Women's Diving
In her Olympics debut, Maria Polyakova finished 13th in the women's 3-meter springboard diving prelims. With the result, Polyakova advances to the 3M semifinals. The Moscow native finished with a score of 288.55 on Friday, securing one of the top 16 spots required to advance.
Polyakova was in a top-eight position after each of her first two dives, recording identical scores of 63.00 on her first two attempts. She remained in a qualifying spot after all five of her dives.
The women's 3-meter springboard semifinal begins on Friday night at 11:00 p.m. PT and can be viewed on USA Network.
Women's Water Polo
The U.S. Women's Water Polo Team bounced back after their first loss at the Olympics since 2008 to post an 18-5 rout of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on Friday in Tokyo. Team USA finished group play at 3-1 and has a bye on August 1 as group play comes to a close. The Americans await their opponent in the quarterfinal round on August 3.
All three Bruins started the game and scored for Team USA with Rachel Fattal contributing one goal, three steals, and one field block. Fattal also won two sprints. Maddie Musselman added a goal and a steal while defender Alys Williams chipped in her second goal in Tokyo and added one steal.
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.
UCLA's Bronte Halligan also scored one goal for Australia, but the Aussie Stingers suffered a 15-9 loss to Spain on Friday. Australia is 2-1 in Group A and will conclude preliminary action against South Africa (0-3) on Sunday at 7:50 p.m. local time, 3:50 a.m. PDT.
Women's Soccer
All four Bruins earned starts in their teams' quarterfinal matches on Friday, helping their teams advance to the semifinal round.
Canada, which starts midfielder Jessie Fleming, was the first team to move on, advancing past Brazil in a penalty kick shootout, 4-3. Down 1-0 after the first round of kicks, Fleming converted her penalty kick, sending a low shot to the right corner, just past the Brazilian goalkeeper to tie. Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé saved the final two shots by Brazil to secure Canada's win.
Australia secured a 4-3 extra-time victory over Great Britain thanks to goalkeeper Teagan Micah's outstanding performance. The 2019 UCLA graduate, who had just two caps coming into the Olympic tournament, faced 18 shots and made huge saves in the overtime period, including a critical penalty kick save in the 102nd minute.
The U.S. advanced to the semifinals after beating the Netherlands in penalty kicks, 4-2. Bruins Sam Mewis and Abby Dahlkemper started the match, with Mewis playing 57 minutes and scoring the equalizing goal in the 29th minute, and Dahlkemper playing the full contest.
Canada will face the United States in Monday's semifinal, and Australia will play Sweden for the second time in the tournament.
Women's Basketball
Atonye Nyingifa scored eight points and added four rebounds in Nigeria's 87-62 loss to France early Friday morning in Tokyo. She also tied for a game-high with three steals. The Nigerians will have a chance to earn their first victory of the 2020 Olympics with a matchup against Japan on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. PT.
The Bruins see their next action in Tokyo on Saturday, as Nirra Fields and Team Canada look to earn their second win of the group stage with a matchup against Spain (6:00 p.m. PT). Angela Dugalic and the Serbians square off against South Korea at 5:00 a.m. PT on Sunday.
Baseball
A pair of UCLA alums faced off on Friday as Team USA (Eric Filia) defeated Israel (Zack Weiss) by a score of 8-1 in group play. Team USA was playing its first game, and moved into a tie with South Korea for the lead in Group B.
Filia went 2-4 as the starting right fielder for Team USA, collecting a pair of singles out of the six-hole. He notched a base hit to right-center in his first AB – Team USA's first hit of the Olympics - then led off the eighth with another knock before stealing second (the game's only stolen base) and scoring on an RBI groundout.
Weiss, who pitched two innings out of the bullpen for Israel on Thursday, did not appear in the contest.
Next up, Team USA faces South Korea on Saturday at 3:00 a.m. PT (TV: NBCSN) to determine the Group B Winner. Israel will play the third-place team from Group A in an elimination game at 8:00 p.m. PT on Saturday.
Women's Swimming
Ting Wen Quah wrapped up her stint at Tokyo 2020 with an eighth-place finish in Heat 8 of the women's 50-meter freestyle. Representing Singapore, Quah recorded a time of 26.16. Earlier on during the Olympic Games, the former UCLA standout competed in the 100m free heats, placing eighth in Heat 4.
Men's Track and Field
Rai Benjamin won heat five of the 400m hurdles with a time of 48.60, advancing to the event semifinal on Sunday (Los Angeles time). Benjamin entered the Olympics with the second-best time in the world in the event at 46.83, which he set at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. on June 6.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Champions, Teammates & Best Frenemies: UCLA baseball alumni to duke it out on Olympic stage – SI All Bruins (Eric Filia, Zack Weiss)
Unusual Olympic debut for USC's Kelly Claes and UCLA's Sarah Sponcil – Pac-12 (Sarah Sponcil)
Social Media Highlights
Teagan Micah stepped up to the challenge
The U.S. Men's National Volleyball Team, coached by UCLA's John Speraw, dropped a four-set decision to the world's top-ranked team from Brazil on Thursday night in a Preliminary Round Pool B contest. Scores of the match were 32-30, 23-25, 21-25, 20-25. The U.S. now owns a 2-2 record, while Brazil, which captured the gold medal at the Rio Games in 2016, improved to 3-1 and clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team sits at the top of Pool B with a 3-0 record, including wins over both the U.S. and Brazil.
Mitch Stahl (UCLA 2014-17) started the match at middle blocker and delivered six kills, one dig and a block for the Americans. Garrett Muagututia (UCLA 2007-10) did not record stats in an appearance as a reserve.
The U.S. closes out pool play against 8th-ranked Argentina (1-2, with a match to play later today against Tunisia) on Sunday at 5:45 a.m. PT. The U.S. has advanced to the last four quarterfinal rounds of the Olympic competitions and won the Olympic gold medal in 1984, 1988 and 2008.
Women's Diving
In her Olympics debut, Maria Polyakova finished 13th in the women's 3-meter springboard diving prelims. With the result, Polyakova advances to the 3M semifinals. The Moscow native finished with a score of 288.55 on Friday, securing one of the top 16 spots required to advance.
Polyakova was in a top-eight position after each of her first two dives, recording identical scores of 63.00 on her first two attempts. She remained in a qualifying spot after all five of her dives.
The women's 3-meter springboard semifinal begins on Friday night at 11:00 p.m. PT and can be viewed on USA Network.
Women's Water Polo
The U.S. Women's Water Polo Team bounced back after their first loss at the Olympics since 2008 to post an 18-5 rout of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on Friday in Tokyo. Team USA finished group play at 3-1 and has a bye on August 1 as group play comes to a close. The Americans await their opponent in the quarterfinal round on August 3.
All three Bruins started the game and scored for Team USA with Rachel Fattal contributing one goal, three steals, and one field block. Fattal also won two sprints. Maddie Musselman added a goal and a steal while defender Alys Williams chipped in her second goal in Tokyo and added one steal.
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.
UCLA's Bronte Halligan also scored one goal for Australia, but the Aussie Stingers suffered a 15-9 loss to Spain on Friday. Australia is 2-1 in Group A and will conclude preliminary action against South Africa (0-3) on Sunday at 7:50 p.m. local time, 3:50 a.m. PDT.
Women's Soccer
All four Bruins earned starts in their teams' quarterfinal matches on Friday, helping their teams advance to the semifinal round.
Canada, which starts midfielder Jessie Fleming, was the first team to move on, advancing past Brazil in a penalty kick shootout, 4-3. Down 1-0 after the first round of kicks, Fleming converted her penalty kick, sending a low shot to the right corner, just past the Brazilian goalkeeper to tie. Canadian goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé saved the final two shots by Brazil to secure Canada's win.
Australia secured a 4-3 extra-time victory over Great Britain thanks to goalkeeper Teagan Micah's outstanding performance. The 2019 UCLA graduate, who had just two caps coming into the Olympic tournament, faced 18 shots and made huge saves in the overtime period, including a critical penalty kick save in the 102nd minute.
The U.S. advanced to the semifinals after beating the Netherlands in penalty kicks, 4-2. Bruins Sam Mewis and Abby Dahlkemper started the match, with Mewis playing 57 minutes and scoring the equalizing goal in the 29th minute, and Dahlkemper playing the full contest.
Canada will face the United States in Monday's semifinal, and Australia will play Sweden for the second time in the tournament.
Women's Basketball
Atonye Nyingifa scored eight points and added four rebounds in Nigeria's 87-62 loss to France early Friday morning in Tokyo. She also tied for a game-high with three steals. The Nigerians will have a chance to earn their first victory of the 2020 Olympics with a matchup against Japan on Sunday at 6:00 p.m. PT.
The Bruins see their next action in Tokyo on Saturday, as Nirra Fields and Team Canada look to earn their second win of the group stage with a matchup against Spain (6:00 p.m. PT). Angela Dugalic and the Serbians square off against South Korea at 5:00 a.m. PT on Sunday.
Baseball
A pair of UCLA alums faced off on Friday as Team USA (Eric Filia) defeated Israel (Zack Weiss) by a score of 8-1 in group play. Team USA was playing its first game, and moved into a tie with South Korea for the lead in Group B.
Filia went 2-4 as the starting right fielder for Team USA, collecting a pair of singles out of the six-hole. He notched a base hit to right-center in his first AB – Team USA's first hit of the Olympics - then led off the eighth with another knock before stealing second (the game's only stolen base) and scoring on an RBI groundout.
Weiss, who pitched two innings out of the bullpen for Israel on Thursday, did not appear in the contest.
Next up, Team USA faces South Korea on Saturday at 3:00 a.m. PT (TV: NBCSN) to determine the Group B Winner. Israel will play the third-place team from Group A in an elimination game at 8:00 p.m. PT on Saturday.
Women's Swimming
Ting Wen Quah wrapped up her stint at Tokyo 2020 with an eighth-place finish in Heat 8 of the women's 50-meter freestyle. Representing Singapore, Quah recorded a time of 26.16. Earlier on during the Olympic Games, the former UCLA standout competed in the 100m free heats, placing eighth in Heat 4.
Men's Track and Field
Rai Benjamin won heat five of the 400m hurdles with a time of 48.60, advancing to the event semifinal on Sunday (Los Angeles time). Benjamin entered the Olympics with the second-best time in the world in the event at 46.83, which he set at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore. on June 6.
Bruin Olympians in the News
Champions, Teammates & Best Frenemies: UCLA baseball alumni to duke it out on Olympic stage – SI All Bruins (Eric Filia, Zack Weiss)
Unusual Olympic debut for USC's Kelly Claes and UCLA's Sarah Sponcil – Pac-12 (Sarah Sponcil)
Social Media Highlights
Teagan Micah stepped up to the challenge
2-2, extra time.#GBR are awarded a penalty.
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) July 30, 2021
Man City & 79-cap Scotland international Caroline Weir steps up.
Facing her is @TeaganMicah playing just her fifth game for @TheMatildas.
She starts behind the line, holds, waits, waits and goes left.
Saved. Legend.#OptusSport pic.twitter.com/WbfgajAJAK
Did Jordan Chiles and Normani just become best friends?
you're soooooooo cute oh my gosh ??????? can't stop smiling. proud of her !!!!!!! https://t.co/YkOOKlUZMq
— Normani (@Normani) July 30, 2021