Friday, August 30
Atlanta, GA
4:00 PM
UCLA
at
No. 14 Georgia Tech
UCLA Opens 2024 Season in Atlanta Friday
August 28, 2024 | Women's Volleyball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA women's volleyball team begins its 60th season in 2024 with two matches at the GT Invitational in O'Keefe Gymnasium in Atlanta, Ga. The Bruins face No. 14 Georgia Tech in their season opener on Friday, Aug. 30 at 4 p.m. (PT) and Coastal Carolina on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 9 a.m. (PT). UCLA's contest versus Georgia Tech will be available for viewing on ACC Network Extra.
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Head coach Alfee Reft begins his second year in charge of the program after leading the team to an 18-12 record and 10-10 mark in Pac-12 Conference play for a sixth-place finish. UCLA ended 2023 on a high note with two road wins over top-25 opponents in the final three weeks of the regular season, but finished just short of making the NCAA Tournament's field of 64. The Bruins were among the "first teams eight out" of the committee's bracket.
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UCLA OFFICIALLY JOINS THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE
UCLA officially joined the Big Ten Conference Aug. 2, ushering in a new era in the Bruins' storied and illustrious athletic tradition. UCLA, along with previous conference foes Oregon, USC and Washington, have moved to an 18-team Big Ten Conference with a footprint spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
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UCLA's approaching membership in the Big Ten Conference was initially announced more than two years ago, on June 30, 2022.
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"The day has finally come," said Martin Jarmond, The Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics. "After two years of planning and preparation, UCLA is proud and excited to join the Big Ten Conference. I am grateful for the energy and effort that has been put into shaping this pivotal move by our hard-working staff members, as well as our coaches and student-athletes. The investments we have made into our programs and student-athletes over the past 24 months have set us up to continue to compete at the elite level that defines UCLA Athletics."
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The Bruins' first home Big Ten Conference match will take place Sunday, Sept. 29 versus Ohio State in legendary Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom at 3 p.m. (PT). The contest will be available for viewing on B1G+.
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SERIES HISTORY
UCLA and Georgia Tech have met three times with the Bruins winning all three matches. The two squads last met three seasons ago when an 18th-ranked UCLA squad took down 14th-ranked Georgia Tech in four sets at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid on Sept. 4, 2021. Then-freshman outside hitter Charitie Luper, who is now an ACC foe of the Yellow Jackets at Louisville, scored a team-high 17 kills in the UCLA victory and went on to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors. AVCA All-American performer Mac May put up a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Prior to that meeting, UCLA and Georgia Tech met twice in 1993 and 1994.
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UCLA PICKED EIGHTH
UCLA was picked to finish eighth out of 18 teams in its first-ever Big Ten Volleyball Preseason Poll, it was announced by the conference office Aug. 1. The Bruins were slotted to finish behind fellow conference newcomers Oregon (6th) and USC (7th). UCLA is coming off a sixth-place finish in the Pac-12 a year ago after a second straight season with a 10-10 conference record. In its history, UCLA has won 10 conference crowns with seven coming as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, two as a member of the Western Collegiate Athletic Association (WCAA) and one as a member of the Southern California Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCWIAC). The Bruins' last conference championship was in 1999 when they posted a 17-1 record.
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DODSON PRESEASON ALL-BIG-TEN
Graduate Anna Dodson was one of three middle blockers to be named to the 18-member Big Ten Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team. Dodson received the first AVCA All-American recognition of her career in 2023, being named honorable mention. The Bruins' star middle blocker was also named to the All-Pac-12 Team for the third time in her career. Dodson recorded 322.0 points (3.04 PPS) off 233 kills and 131 blocks (1.24 BPS). She led UCLA and ranked third in the Pac-12 with a .374 hitting percentage.
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WHAT'S NEW, BRU?
Reft welcomes a group of seven newcomers to his second-year squad. Joining the Bruins are graduate transfers Leilani Dodson (MH, Northwestern), Kate Reilly (DS/L, Stanford) and Sofia Victoria (OH, Florida) and freshmen Kate Duffey (Ventura, Calif.), Kiki Horne (Raleigh, N.C.), Zoë Humphrey (Houston, Texas) and Anastasija Ivkovic (Belgrade, Serbia).
Notes on the Transfers
โข Leilani Dodson is the second former Northwestern middle blocker to make her way to Westwood, following in the footsteps of Desiree Becker who started every match for the Bruins a year ago. The pair of Dodson and Becker played together and were coached by current UCLA associate head coach Amir Lugo-Rodriguez. In her three-year Wildcat career, Dodson averaged 1.91 kills per set and 0.85 blocks per set while recording a .300+ hitting percentage in each season of competition (92 matches, 350 sets). Prior to Northwestern, Dodson was named to the West Coast Conference (WCC) All-Freshman Team in her lone season at BYU in Spring 2021.
โข Sofia Victoria was a starter on two NCAA Tournament squads at Florida in 2022 and 2023. She averaged 2.56 kills per set for a .210 hitting percentage over her four-year career for the Gators (91 matches, 228 sets). Victoria was named AVCA Southeast All-Region Honorable Mention in her junior 2022 season after ranking third on the team with 286 kills (.223%) and sixth with 35 blocks. The Puerto Rican helped Florida win the SEC Championship and earned a spot in the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
โข Kate Reilly enjoyed a stellar beach career at Stanford where she finished herย four yearsย as the winningest player in program history with an individual 97-45 record following a 29-5 mark her senior year. The 29 wins were the most on the Stanford squad in Spring 2024. In her sophomore 2022 season, Reilly was awarded AVCA Collegiate Beach Second Team All-American and All-Pac-12 Second Team honors after logging a 24-10 record for the fewest losses of any 2022 Cardinal team member playing 20-plus matches.
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PAIR OF BRUINS TRAIN WITH USA
Middle blockers Anna Dodson and Desiree Becker were two of 19 student-athletes across the country to be named to the USA Volleyball Collegiate Women's National Team (CNT) in Summer 2024. This marked the second straight year Dodson was selected to the team. From June 30-July 6, Dodson and Becker trained alongside the reigning Women's National Team Olympic Champions as they prepared for a title defense in Paris.
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GEORGIA ON HER MIND
Cheridyn Leverette will be returning to her home state of Georgia this weekend. Leverette, a native of Hampton, Ga., attended Eagle's Landing Christian Academy. Leverette was honored as the 2021-22 Georgia Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year, an AVCA High School Second Team All-American and the Georgia Class 1A Private Player of the Year her senior season in 2021. She finished her high school career with 2,029 career kills, a .487 hitting percentage, 283 service aces, 970 digs and 63 blocks.
ย
CHANGES TO THE STAFF
Amir Lugo-Rodriguez was promoted to the position of associate head coach over the offseason. Lugo-Rodriguez, who joined Reft on his first-year staff in 2023, worked primarily with the Bruins' middle blocker group, which featured AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and All-Pac-12 selection Anna Dodson and Desiree Becker. Dodson and Becker led all Pac-12 blocking duos in the regular season with a combined 267 total blocks. As a team, the Bruins averaged 2.58 blocks per set.
ย
Reft hired Stevi Robinson-Trail as assistant coach back in January. Robinson-Trail spent the previous five years (2019-23) working on Cal State Bakersfield's indoor and beach volleyball staffs. She worked exclusively with the Roadrunners' indoor squad the last three years for head coach Giovana Melo and was promoted to associate head coach for the 2023 season. A former professional and collegiate volleyball player, Robinson-Trail was a member of the United States Women's National Team from 2014-16. Robinson-Trial enjoyed a storied career at Pepperdine from 2008-11 where she was a two-time WCC Libero of the Year and the Waves' all-time digs leader (1,750).
ย
UCLA REPRESENTATION AT THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
Alfee Reft concluded his time as a seasonal assistant coach for the U.S. Women's National Team with a Silver Medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Team USA defeated Serbia, France, Poland and Brazil before falling to world No. 1 Italy in the Gold Medal match on Aug. 11. Reft coached under legendary Bruin and Team USA head coach Karch Kiraly.
ย
UCLA's lone athlete representative was recent graduate Iman Ndiaye who made her Olympic debut competing for host country France. Ndiaye competed at UCLA from 2021-23 and was born in Paris before moving to the United States at four years old. Ndiaye became the 13th UCLA women's volleyball alumnae to compete at the Olympics and the first Bruin to compete on a team other than the United States.
ย
ย
Head coach Alfee Reft begins his second year in charge of the program after leading the team to an 18-12 record and 10-10 mark in Pac-12 Conference play for a sixth-place finish. UCLA ended 2023 on a high note with two road wins over top-25 opponents in the final three weeks of the regular season, but finished just short of making the NCAA Tournament's field of 64. The Bruins were among the "first teams eight out" of the committee's bracket.
ย
UCLA OFFICIALLY JOINS THE BIG TEN CONFERENCE
UCLA officially joined the Big Ten Conference Aug. 2, ushering in a new era in the Bruins' storied and illustrious athletic tradition. UCLA, along with previous conference foes Oregon, USC and Washington, have moved to an 18-team Big Ten Conference with a footprint spanning from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
ย
UCLA's approaching membership in the Big Ten Conference was initially announced more than two years ago, on June 30, 2022.
ย
"The day has finally come," said Martin Jarmond, The Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics. "After two years of planning and preparation, UCLA is proud and excited to join the Big Ten Conference. I am grateful for the energy and effort that has been put into shaping this pivotal move by our hard-working staff members, as well as our coaches and student-athletes. The investments we have made into our programs and student-athletes over the past 24 months have set us up to continue to compete at the elite level that defines UCLA Athletics."
ย
The Bruins' first home Big Ten Conference match will take place Sunday, Sept. 29 versus Ohio State in legendary Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom at 3 p.m. (PT). The contest will be available for viewing on B1G+.
ย
SERIES HISTORY
UCLA and Georgia Tech have met three times with the Bruins winning all three matches. The two squads last met three seasons ago when an 18th-ranked UCLA squad took down 14th-ranked Georgia Tech in four sets at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid on Sept. 4, 2021. Then-freshman outside hitter Charitie Luper, who is now an ACC foe of the Yellow Jackets at Louisville, scored a team-high 17 kills in the UCLA victory and went on to win Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors. AVCA All-American performer Mac May put up a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Prior to that meeting, UCLA and Georgia Tech met twice in 1993 and 1994.
ย
UCLA PICKED EIGHTH
UCLA was picked to finish eighth out of 18 teams in its first-ever Big Ten Volleyball Preseason Poll, it was announced by the conference office Aug. 1. The Bruins were slotted to finish behind fellow conference newcomers Oregon (6th) and USC (7th). UCLA is coming off a sixth-place finish in the Pac-12 a year ago after a second straight season with a 10-10 conference record. In its history, UCLA has won 10 conference crowns with seven coming as a member of the Pac-12 Conference, two as a member of the Western Collegiate Athletic Association (WCAA) and one as a member of the Southern California Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCWIAC). The Bruins' last conference championship was in 1999 when they posted a 17-1 record.
ย
DODSON PRESEASON ALL-BIG-TEN
Graduate Anna Dodson was one of three middle blockers to be named to the 18-member Big Ten Volleyball Preseason All-Conference Team. Dodson received the first AVCA All-American recognition of her career in 2023, being named honorable mention. The Bruins' star middle blocker was also named to the All-Pac-12 Team for the third time in her career. Dodson recorded 322.0 points (3.04 PPS) off 233 kills and 131 blocks (1.24 BPS). She led UCLA and ranked third in the Pac-12 with a .374 hitting percentage.
ย
WHAT'S NEW, BRU?
Reft welcomes a group of seven newcomers to his second-year squad. Joining the Bruins are graduate transfers Leilani Dodson (MH, Northwestern), Kate Reilly (DS/L, Stanford) and Sofia Victoria (OH, Florida) and freshmen Kate Duffey (Ventura, Calif.), Kiki Horne (Raleigh, N.C.), Zoë Humphrey (Houston, Texas) and Anastasija Ivkovic (Belgrade, Serbia).
Notes on the Transfers
โข Leilani Dodson is the second former Northwestern middle blocker to make her way to Westwood, following in the footsteps of Desiree Becker who started every match for the Bruins a year ago. The pair of Dodson and Becker played together and were coached by current UCLA associate head coach Amir Lugo-Rodriguez. In her three-year Wildcat career, Dodson averaged 1.91 kills per set and 0.85 blocks per set while recording a .300+ hitting percentage in each season of competition (92 matches, 350 sets). Prior to Northwestern, Dodson was named to the West Coast Conference (WCC) All-Freshman Team in her lone season at BYU in Spring 2021.
โข Sofia Victoria was a starter on two NCAA Tournament squads at Florida in 2022 and 2023. She averaged 2.56 kills per set for a .210 hitting percentage over her four-year career for the Gators (91 matches, 228 sets). Victoria was named AVCA Southeast All-Region Honorable Mention in her junior 2022 season after ranking third on the team with 286 kills (.223%) and sixth with 35 blocks. The Puerto Rican helped Florida win the SEC Championship and earned a spot in the Sweet 16 of the 2022 NCAA Tournament.
โข Kate Reilly enjoyed a stellar beach career at Stanford where she finished herย four yearsย as the winningest player in program history with an individual 97-45 record following a 29-5 mark her senior year. The 29 wins were the most on the Stanford squad in Spring 2024. In her sophomore 2022 season, Reilly was awarded AVCA Collegiate Beach Second Team All-American and All-Pac-12 Second Team honors after logging a 24-10 record for the fewest losses of any 2022 Cardinal team member playing 20-plus matches.
ย
PAIR OF BRUINS TRAIN WITH USA
Middle blockers Anna Dodson and Desiree Becker were two of 19 student-athletes across the country to be named to the USA Volleyball Collegiate Women's National Team (CNT) in Summer 2024. This marked the second straight year Dodson was selected to the team. From June 30-July 6, Dodson and Becker trained alongside the reigning Women's National Team Olympic Champions as they prepared for a title defense in Paris.
ย
GEORGIA ON HER MIND
Cheridyn Leverette will be returning to her home state of Georgia this weekend. Leverette, a native of Hampton, Ga., attended Eagle's Landing Christian Academy. Leverette was honored as the 2021-22 Georgia Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year, an AVCA High School Second Team All-American and the Georgia Class 1A Private Player of the Year her senior season in 2021. She finished her high school career with 2,029 career kills, a .487 hitting percentage, 283 service aces, 970 digs and 63 blocks.
ย
CHANGES TO THE STAFF
Amir Lugo-Rodriguez was promoted to the position of associate head coach over the offseason. Lugo-Rodriguez, who joined Reft on his first-year staff in 2023, worked primarily with the Bruins' middle blocker group, which featured AVCA Honorable Mention All-American and All-Pac-12 selection Anna Dodson and Desiree Becker. Dodson and Becker led all Pac-12 blocking duos in the regular season with a combined 267 total blocks. As a team, the Bruins averaged 2.58 blocks per set.
ย
Reft hired Stevi Robinson-Trail as assistant coach back in January. Robinson-Trail spent the previous five years (2019-23) working on Cal State Bakersfield's indoor and beach volleyball staffs. She worked exclusively with the Roadrunners' indoor squad the last three years for head coach Giovana Melo and was promoted to associate head coach for the 2023 season. A former professional and collegiate volleyball player, Robinson-Trail was a member of the United States Women's National Team from 2014-16. Robinson-Trial enjoyed a storied career at Pepperdine from 2008-11 where she was a two-time WCC Libero of the Year and the Waves' all-time digs leader (1,750).
ย
UCLA REPRESENTATION AT THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
Alfee Reft concluded his time as a seasonal assistant coach for the U.S. Women's National Team with a Silver Medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Team USA defeated Serbia, France, Poland and Brazil before falling to world No. 1 Italy in the Gold Medal match on Aug. 11. Reft coached under legendary Bruin and Team USA head coach Karch Kiraly.
ย
UCLA's lone athlete representative was recent graduate Iman Ndiaye who made her Olympic debut competing for host country France. Ndiaye competed at UCLA from 2021-23 and was born in Paris before moving to the United States at four years old. Ndiaye became the 13th UCLA women's volleyball alumnae to compete at the Olympics and the first Bruin to compete on a team other than the United States.
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Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
MH
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
OH/OPP
/ Women's Volleyball
DS/L
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
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