THIS WEEK — UCLA (17-1, 4-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), ranked No. 2 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA), plays three high-level matches in a round-robin format at the OUTRIGGER VB Invitational this week. On Thursday, the Bruins will take on No. 3 Penn State (15-1) at 6 p.m. PT. The Nittany Lions are the lone team to have beaten the Bruins this season, a four-set decision handed down at Penn State on Feb. 4. Friday, Purdue Fort Wayne (12-5) provides the opposition in a match which starts at 6 p.m. PT. UCLA will battle the two-time defending national champion and top-ranked Rainbow Warriors (15-0) on Saturday at 9 p.m. PT. This is UCLA's 15th appearance in the OUTRIGGER which it has won nine times.
• First Serve vs. Penn State ( (Thu. Mar. 9): 6:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439870&vislive=ucla
• First Serve vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (Fri. Mar. 10): 6:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439872&vislive=ucla
• First Serve at Hawai'i (Sat. Mar. 11): 9:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439875
TV/Video: ESPN+ Subscription
This is UCLA's first trip to play at Hawai'i since a pair of 2018 matches in which each team captured a four-set win. Hawai'i has set a school record with 28-straight home court wins and is the only unbeaten team remaining in Div. I-II. The Bruins have defeated the AVCA's top-ranked team in each of the past two seasons --- taking down Long Beach State at home on Feb. 7, 2022 and knocking off BYU, in Provo, on Feb. 4, 2021. UCLA's most recent No. 1 ranking came last season when it held the top spot for nine weeks following its win over Beach until it lost in the MPSF semifinals to Stanford.
UCLA's 17-1 season start is the best since the 1995 Bruins posted a 31-1 overall season record, after winning its first 12, on the the way to capturing the national championship by beating Penn State. It is the first time since 1998 (UCLA was 15-0 in Jan.-Feb.) that a Bruin team has entered the month of March with one loss or less. Next week, UCLA will return to action in the MPSF with a couple of matches at No. 12 Stanford on Mar. 17 and 18.
UCLA AND RANKINGS -- UCLA remained at No. 2 in this week's AVCA Poll. UCLA has now been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AVCA poll at some point in 7 of the last 8 seasons (not in 2021) ... The Bruins finished the 2022 season listed fourth in the final AVCA poll after being as high as No. 1 for nine weeks during the year ... 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) over the years.
TEAM NCAA RANKING NOTES -- UCLA began the week leading the nation in hitting percentage (.387; the Bruins led the nation in hitting % last season as well at .374). The Bruins are T2nd nationally with an average of 2.10 aces per set which is helped by a school-record tying 18 aces by the Bruins against UCSD (1/6). UCLA has four matches this season with at least 10 aces. The Bruins began the week also listed in the top 10 nationally in set assists (3rd-12.18), kills (3rd-12.90), blocks (4th-2.58) and opponent hitting % (10th .209).
PLAYER/COACH NOTES -- Coach John Speraw captured his 400th career win as a men's collegiate head coach against No. 6 UC Irvine (2/26). In a match at UCI (2/24), he won his 200th match while head coach at UCLA ... Speraw was the head coach at UC Irvine from 2003-2012 and won three NCAA Championships (2007, 2009, 2012) with the Anteaters ... ... Ethan Champlin has 8 double-digit kill matches ... Ido David is hitting .417 over last 13 matches (164k, 39e, 300 att) ... Guy Genis has 24 blocks over the past six matches and began the week 2nd in NCAA in blocks (1.24/s) ... Troy Gooch is the current MPSF Defensive POW (3/6) and has handled 80 serves without error over last 5 matches ... Alex Knight has double-digit kills in 5 of the last 6 matches he has played in ... Merrick McHenry has hit at least .500 in each of the last 5 matches (47k-5e-74 att .568) ... Andrew Rowan has set the Bruins to a .400 hitting percentage in his 13 starts at setter and has at least one ace in each of the last seven matches ... UCLA added two new assistant coaches during the off-season, both former Bruin players, in Nick Vogel (2009-12) and Brandon Taliaferro (1997-2000) ... returners J.R. Norris IV, Ethan Champlin and Merrick McHenry each earned bronze medals as members of the U.S. Team at the 2022 Pan American Cup Final Six in Mexico this past off-season.
MPSF -- The Bruins (4-0) have kicked off MPSF play with a pair of 3-0 sweeps over both BYU and Concordia-Irvine ... UCLA, which finished atop the 2022 MPSF standings with an 11-1 record, is picked to repeat by the coaches in 2023 ... The '23 Pre-season MPSF coaches poll: 1-UCLA, 2-Pepperdine, 3-Stanford, T4-Grand Canyon, T4-USC, 6-BYU, 7-CUI ... this year's MPSF Post-Season Tournament, which determines the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament, will be held at Stanford, with video provided by FloSports, as the location will rotate among the league schools going forward ... returners Ethan Champlin and Merrick McHenry each earned first-team 2022 All-MPSF honors ... Guy Genis was the 2022 MPSF Freshman of the Year ... Ido David earned honorable mention ... Grant Sloane joined Genis and David on the 2022 MPSF All-Freshman Team.
MPSF Standings (3/6)
1. UCLA 4-0
2. Grand Canyon 5-1
3. Pepperdine 2-2
Stanford 2-2
5. USC 1-3
6. BYU 2-4
7. Concordia-Irvine 0-4
Coming Up:
Mar. 8 - Ball State at Grand Canyon
Mar. 9 - UCLA vs. Penn St.; USC at Pepperdine
Mar. 10 - UCLA vs. Purdue Ft. Wayne; Ohio St. at BYU; Olivet Nazarene at Grand Canyon;
Mar. 11 - UCLA at Hawai'i; Ohio St. at BYU; Pepperdine at USC
• First Serve vs. Penn State ( (Thu. Mar. 9): 6:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439870&vislive=ucla
• First Serve vs. Purdue Fort Wayne (Fri. Mar. 10): 6:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439872&vislive=ucla
• First Serve at Hawai'i (Sat. Mar. 11): 9:00 p.m. PT
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439875
TV/Video: ESPN+ Subscription
This is UCLA's first trip to play at Hawai'i since a pair of 2018 matches in which each team captured a four-set win. Hawai'i has set a school record with 28-straight home court wins and is the only unbeaten team remaining in Div. I-II. The Bruins have defeated the AVCA's top-ranked team in each of the past two seasons --- taking down Long Beach State at home on Feb. 7, 2022 and knocking off BYU, in Provo, on Feb. 4, 2021. UCLA's most recent No. 1 ranking came last season when it held the top spot for nine weeks following its win over Beach until it lost in the MPSF semifinals to Stanford.
UCLA's 17-1 season start is the best since the 1995 Bruins posted a 31-1 overall season record, after winning its first 12, on the the way to capturing the national championship by beating Penn State. It is the first time since 1998 (UCLA was 15-0 in Jan.-Feb.) that a Bruin team has entered the month of March with one loss or less. Next week, UCLA will return to action in the MPSF with a couple of matches at No. 12 Stanford on Mar. 17 and 18.
UCLA AND RANKINGS -- UCLA remained at No. 2 in this week's AVCA Poll. UCLA has now been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AVCA poll at some point in 7 of the last 8 seasons (not in 2021) ... The Bruins finished the 2022 season listed fourth in the final AVCA poll after being as high as No. 1 for nine weeks during the year ... 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) over the years.
TEAM NCAA RANKING NOTES -- UCLA began the week leading the nation in hitting percentage (.387; the Bruins led the nation in hitting % last season as well at .374). The Bruins are T2nd nationally with an average of 2.10 aces per set which is helped by a school-record tying 18 aces by the Bruins against UCSD (1/6). UCLA has four matches this season with at least 10 aces. The Bruins began the week also listed in the top 10 nationally in set assists (3rd-12.18), kills (3rd-12.90), blocks (4th-2.58) and opponent hitting % (10th .209).
PLAYER/COACH NOTES -- Coach John Speraw captured his 400th career win as a men's collegiate head coach against No. 6 UC Irvine (2/26). In a match at UCI (2/24), he won his 200th match while head coach at UCLA ... Speraw was the head coach at UC Irvine from 2003-2012 and won three NCAA Championships (2007, 2009, 2012) with the Anteaters ... ... Ethan Champlin has 8 double-digit kill matches ... Ido David is hitting .417 over last 13 matches (164k, 39e, 300 att) ... Guy Genis has 24 blocks over the past six matches and began the week 2nd in NCAA in blocks (1.24/s) ... Troy Gooch is the current MPSF Defensive POW (3/6) and has handled 80 serves without error over last 5 matches ... Alex Knight has double-digit kills in 5 of the last 6 matches he has played in ... Merrick McHenry has hit at least .500 in each of the last 5 matches (47k-5e-74 att .568) ... Andrew Rowan has set the Bruins to a .400 hitting percentage in his 13 starts at setter and has at least one ace in each of the last seven matches ... UCLA added two new assistant coaches during the off-season, both former Bruin players, in Nick Vogel (2009-12) and Brandon Taliaferro (1997-2000) ... returners J.R. Norris IV, Ethan Champlin and Merrick McHenry each earned bronze medals as members of the U.S. Team at the 2022 Pan American Cup Final Six in Mexico this past off-season.
MPSF -- The Bruins (4-0) have kicked off MPSF play with a pair of 3-0 sweeps over both BYU and Concordia-Irvine ... UCLA, which finished atop the 2022 MPSF standings with an 11-1 record, is picked to repeat by the coaches in 2023 ... The '23 Pre-season MPSF coaches poll: 1-UCLA, 2-Pepperdine, 3-Stanford, T4-Grand Canyon, T4-USC, 6-BYU, 7-CUI ... this year's MPSF Post-Season Tournament, which determines the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament, will be held at Stanford, with video provided by FloSports, as the location will rotate among the league schools going forward ... returners Ethan Champlin and Merrick McHenry each earned first-team 2022 All-MPSF honors ... Guy Genis was the 2022 MPSF Freshman of the Year ... Ido David earned honorable mention ... Grant Sloane joined Genis and David on the 2022 MPSF All-Freshman Team.
MPSF Standings (3/6)
1. UCLA 4-0
2. Grand Canyon 5-1
3. Pepperdine 2-2
Stanford 2-2
5. USC 1-3
6. BYU 2-4
7. Concordia-Irvine 0-4
Coming Up:
Mar. 8 - Ball State at Grand Canyon
Mar. 9 - UCLA vs. Penn St.; USC at Pepperdine
Mar. 10 - UCLA vs. Purdue Ft. Wayne; Ohio St. at BYU; Olivet Nazarene at Grand Canyon;
Mar. 11 - UCLA at Hawai'i; Ohio St. at BYU; Pepperdine at USC