UCLA's Merrick McHenry was named offtheblockblog's National Middle Attacker of the Week after his performance in a pair of matches last week against top-ranked Long Beach State. McHenry became the school's all-time leader in block solos with his 45th career stuff during UCLA's win over the Beach on Saturday night in Pauley Pavilion.

McHenry averaged 2.6 kills per set on 33 swings while hitting .515 in helping UCLA to a split of last week's matches. He added a couple of aces and 11 blocks in the two contests. His total of seven digs in the second match was a career-best total.

The Bruins (9-3, 0-0) will begin defense of their 2023 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) title on Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom with a 7 p.m. match against No. 11 Pepperdine (9-2, 0-0). Last season, UCLA captured both the MPSF regular-season and tournament titles. The Bruins will bring a 19-match MPSF regular-season win streak into Wednesday's battle with the Waves which dates back to a Mar. 11, 2022 loss to Stanford.

UCLA was ranked No. 4 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll. MPSF teams from Grand Canyon, Stanford and BYU join the Bruins in the Top 10.

AVCA Poll (Feb. 12)
1. Long Beach State (10-1)
2. Grand Canyon (9-0)
3. Hawai'i  (10-1)
4. UCLA (9-3)
5. Stanford (7-3)
6. BYU (9-3)
7. UC Irvine (6-4)
8. Ohio State (8-3)
9. Penn State (8-3)
10. Loyola-Chicago (7-6)
11. Pepperdine (9-2)
12. USC (8-4)
13. Lewis (7-4)
14. Ball State (9-7)
15. Princeton (6-5)
16. CSUN (7-5)
17. George Mason (3-5)
18. UC Santa Barbara (4-9)
19. Lincoln Memorial (7-3)
20. UC San Diego (3-8)