Friday, February 17
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
vs
Brigham Young
L to R: Troy Gooch (4), Alex Knight (12), Ido David (16)
MVB Begins MPSF Action on Friday/Saturday
February 15, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
UCLA THIS WEEK --Bruins Opens MPSF Play At Home vs. BYU— UCLA (11-1,0-0), ranked No. 2 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) will open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play this week with back-to-back home matches against No. 8-ranked BYU (8-2, 0-0). The teams will meet Friday night at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. On Saturday, the site shifts to the Wooden Center for a 5 p.m. battle.
The teams met twice last season with UCLA winning both contests, at BYU, in four and five sets. That marked the first time that a UCLA team had swept a season series from the Cougars since 2000. The teams met four times in 2021 and split a pair of matches played on each school's home court. UCLA's lone loss of the 2023 season, at Penn State (2/4/23), snapped a nine-match win streak which was the longest season-opening Bruin run since the 2016 team won its first 10 matches.
Setter Andrew Rowan was named the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Player of the Week after helping the Bruins to a pair of wins over Long Beach State. Rowan had seven blocks (five solos) in those matches and his serve played a key role in the victories. UCLA hit a season-best .551 percentage in the Thursday home sweep of the Beach. Rowan and Alex Knight were named the MPSF/Molten Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week. Knight hit .476 for the two matches with 23 kills and handled 34 of 35 serve receptions without an error. Rowan was also selected as offtheblockblog.com's National Setter of the Week.
Next week, UCLA plays a home-and-home series with No. 6 UC Irvine (9-3) from the Big West Conference on Feb. 24 (a) and 26 (h). The Bruins have posted an 8-0 mark to date this season against Big West opposition.
• First Serve vs. BYU (Fri. Feb. 17): 7:00 p.m. PT Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439511
TV/Video: Pac-12 Networks https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12LAX
• First Serve vs. BYU (Sat. Feb. 18): 5:00 p.m. PT Wooden Center
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439512
TV/Video: https://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2
UCLA AND RANKINGS -- UCLA climbed back up to No. 2 in this week's AVCA Poll. The Bruins earned the No. 2 spot in the pre-season AVCA poll for the fourth time in the past fi ve seasons. Eleven of the AVCA's Top 15-ranked teams in the pre-season poll appear on the Bruins' schedule for 2023 and will meet UCLA for a total of 19 matches this season. 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 fi nal 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.
NATIONAL RANK COMPS
UCLA ----------BYU
ACES: 3rd 2.12 ----- 41st 1.19
KILLS: 11th 12.40 ---- 15th 12.30
BLKS: 5th 2.50 ---- 9th 2.45
DIGS: 19th 8.52 ---- 30th 8.08
HIT %: 4th .365 ---- 18th .288
OPPT. %: 7th .212 ---- 20th .233
MPSF -- The Bruins begin MPSF play against BYU at home on Feb. 17-18 ... Six of the seven MPSF teams are ranked among the AVCA's top 12 in the weekly coaches poll ... Outside hitter Alex Knight (Offense) and setter Andrew Rowan (Defense) were named MPSF/Molten POW after the wins over Long Beach ... UCLA, which finished atop the 2022 MPSF standings with an 11-1 record, is picked to repeat by the coaches in 2023. The 2023 Pre-season MPSF coaches poll: 1-UCLA, 2-Pepperdine, 3-Stanford, T4-Grand Canyon, T4-USC, 6-BYU, 7-Concordia, Irvine. This year's MPSF Post-Season Tournament, which determines the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament, will be held at Stanford 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 and a second-team selection. Ido David earned honorable mention. Grant Sloane joined Genis and David on the 2022 MPSF All-Freshman Team.
TEAM NCAA RANKING NOTES -- UCLA is ranked 3rd nationally with an average of 2.12 aces per set which is helped by a school-record tying 18 aces by the Bruins against UCSD (1/6). The Bruins began the week 4th in the nation in hitting percentage with a .365 mark. The Bruins are also listed in the top 10 nationally in blocks (5th-2.50), opponent hitting percentage (7th-.212) and assists (8th-11.82).
PLAYER/COACH NOTES -- Coach John Speraw takes aim at milestone wins No. 200 at UCLA (186-90 entering 2023) and No. 400 overall (385-201 entering 2023) this season ... 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. Men's National Team at the 2022 Pan American Cup Final Six in Mexico this past off-season.
The teams met twice last season with UCLA winning both contests, at BYU, in four and five sets. That marked the first time that a UCLA team had swept a season series from the Cougars since 2000. The teams met four times in 2021 and split a pair of matches played on each school's home court. UCLA's lone loss of the 2023 season, at Penn State (2/4/23), snapped a nine-match win streak which was the longest season-opening Bruin run since the 2016 team won its first 10 matches.
Setter Andrew Rowan was named the AVCA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Player of the Week after helping the Bruins to a pair of wins over Long Beach State. Rowan had seven blocks (five solos) in those matches and his serve played a key role in the victories. UCLA hit a season-best .551 percentage in the Thursday home sweep of the Beach. Rowan and Alex Knight were named the MPSF/Molten Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week. Knight hit .476 for the two matches with 23 kills and handled 34 of 35 serve receptions without an error. Rowan was also selected as offtheblockblog.com's National Setter of the Week.
Next week, UCLA plays a home-and-home series with No. 6 UC Irvine (9-3) from the Big West Conference on Feb. 24 (a) and 26 (h). The Bruins have posted an 8-0 mark to date this season against Big West opposition.
• First Serve vs. BYU (Fri. Feb. 17): 7:00 p.m. PT Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439511
TV/Video: Pac-12 Networks https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12LAX
• First Serve vs. BYU (Sat. Feb. 18): 5:00 p.m. PT Wooden Center
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439512
TV/Video: https://pac-12.com/live/ucla-2
UCLA AND RANKINGS -- UCLA climbed back up to No. 2 in this week's AVCA Poll. The Bruins earned the No. 2 spot in the pre-season AVCA poll for the fourth time in the past fi ve seasons. Eleven of the AVCA's Top 15-ranked teams in the pre-season poll appear on the Bruins' schedule for 2023 and will meet UCLA for a total of 19 matches this season. 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 fi nal 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.
NATIONAL RANK COMPS
UCLA ----------BYU
ACES: 3rd 2.12 ----- 41st 1.19
KILLS: 11th 12.40 ---- 15th 12.30
BLKS: 5th 2.50 ---- 9th 2.45
DIGS: 19th 8.52 ---- 30th 8.08
HIT %: 4th .365 ---- 18th .288
OPPT. %: 7th .212 ---- 20th .233
MPSF -- The Bruins begin MPSF play against BYU at home on Feb. 17-18 ... Six of the seven MPSF teams are ranked among the AVCA's top 12 in the weekly coaches poll ... Outside hitter Alex Knight (Offense) and setter Andrew Rowan (Defense) were named MPSF/Molten POW after the wins over Long Beach ... UCLA, which finished atop the 2022 MPSF standings with an 11-1 record, is picked to repeat by the coaches in 2023. The 2023 Pre-season MPSF coaches poll: 1-UCLA, 2-Pepperdine, 3-Stanford, T4-Grand Canyon, T4-USC, 6-BYU, 7-Concordia, Irvine. This year's MPSF Post-Season Tournament, which determines the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship Tournament, will be held at Stanford 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 and a second-team selection. Ido David earned honorable mention. Grant Sloane joined Genis and David on the 2022 MPSF All-Freshman Team.
TEAM NCAA RANKING NOTES -- UCLA is ranked 3rd nationally with an average of 2.12 aces per set which is helped by a school-record tying 18 aces by the Bruins against UCSD (1/6). The Bruins began the week 4th in the nation in hitting percentage with a .365 mark. The Bruins are also listed in the top 10 nationally in blocks (5th-2.50), opponent hitting percentage (7th-.212) and assists (8th-11.82).
PLAYER/COACH NOTES -- Coach John Speraw takes aim at milestone wins No. 200 at UCLA (186-90 entering 2023) and No. 400 overall (385-201 entering 2023) this season ... 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. Men's National Team at the 2022 Pan American Cup Final Six in Mexico this past off-season.
Players Mentioned
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