UCLA Wraps Up Nonconference Schedule in Northern California

Thursday, September 19

Davis, CA

6:00 PM

UCLA

UC Davis

Sydney Breon

UCLA Wraps Up Nonconference Schedule in Northern California

September 17, 2024 | Women's Volleyball

Game Notes (PDF)Live Stats Media Center Information Guide

UCLA (5-2) at UC Davis (4-4)
Date/Time: Thursday, Sept. 19, 6 p.m. (PT)
Location: Davis, Calif. (University Credit Union Center)
TV: ESPN+
Live Stats: UCLAlivestats.com

UCLA (5-2) at California (7-3)
Date/Time: Saturday, Sept. 21, 1 p.m. (PT)
Location: Berkeley, Calif. (Haas Pavilion)
TV: ACC Network Extra
Live Stats: UCLAlivestats.com

UCLA TRAVELS NORTH FOR NONCONFERENCE FINALE
The UCLA women's volleyball team will play its first matches inside the state of California when it takes on UC Davis and California to conclude its nonconference slate. The Bruins will face off against UC Davis on Sept. 19 at 6 p.m. (PT) before heading to the Bay Area to take on California on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m. (PT).

SERIES HISTORY
UCLA will face UC Davis for the fourth time since 1975. The Bruins have won all three of the all-time contests and have only dropped one set to the Aggies. The teams last met in August of 2021 and UCLA grabbed a 3-1 win in Davis. California will host UCLA for the first since since the programs departed from the Pac-12. The women of Westwood have dominated the all-time series (72-10), winning nine of the last 10 matchups. The Golden Bears won the last match of the Pac-12 era, picking up a win over the Bruins in November of last season.

DODSON'S CAREER PERFORMANCE
Graduate middle blocker Anna Dodson exploded for a career-high 20.5 points to lead UCLA to the straight-set victory over Prairie View A&M in the opening game of the 'Fight at the Fort'. The Bruins received a massive performance from their three-time All-Pac-12 honoree who put down a match-high 14 kills at a staggering .545 hitting percentage. Dodson was a force on the defensive side of the ball and finished just one block shy of her second career double-double, registering nine in the contest.

TOURNAMENT STANDOUTS
Three Bruins were named to the 'Fight in the Fort' All-Tournament team including Audrey Pak, Grayce Olson, and Anna Dodson. Pak facilitated an efficient offense that hit over the .300 mark in two of the three matches in Fort Worth. Olson went for double-digit kills in the two matches she featured while hitting above a .300 clip while Dodson was dominant on the defense end, racking up 13 total blocks on the week, including a career-high nine blocks in the win over Prairie View A&M.

FAMILIAR FACES
UC Davis head coach Dan Conners will be facing off against his alma mater on Thursday night. Conners was a member of the Bruins' 2001 men's volleyball team that finished as national runner-up. He totaled 125 assists as a reserve setter that year, shortly before graduating with a degree in political science. He was with the UCLA program when it won NCAA titles in 1998 and 2000 while finishing second in 2001. Conners previously served five seasons under head coaches Andy Banachowski and Mike Sealy at his alma mater from 2006-10. During that time, the Bruins posted a combined 124-44 record and made two trips to the Elite Eight tournament. Conners' recruiting at UCLA resulted in a national title in 2011. The Bruins led the Pac-10 in blocks three times and held opponents to a .187 clip or lower every year.

UCLA will meet its former associate head coach, Jen Malcom, when it takes on California this Saturday. Serving as the associate head coach for UCLA in 2023, Malcom also acted as the interim head coach of the Bruins for seven matches, leading them to a 4-3 record while head coach Alfee Reft worked with the U.S. National Team. UCLA finished the year at 18-12 (10-10 Pac-12) and three victories over top-25 opponents, two of which were on the road in the final three weekends of the season. Two Bruins each earned American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) All-Pacific South Region and All-Pac-12 honors.

X FACTOR
The Bruins are 4-0 this season when junior outside hitter Cheridyn Levrette posts a hitting percentage of .300 or better. UCLA's two losses have come when Leverette has hit below that mark. She is averaging a team-high 3.75 kills-per-set and has achieved double-digit kills in every match she has featured (did not play against Texas A&M-Commerce on Sept. 12), including a season-high 15 kills in UCLA's pervious match against No. 25 TCU.

FANTASTIC FRESHMEN
Freshman outside hitter Kiki Horne went for double-digit kills in two of the three matches in Texas and continued to improve her efficiency, posting a hitting percentage of .282. Friday night's match against No. 25 TCU was highlighted by freshman setter Kate Duffey's involvement. The Ventura, Calif. native subbed into the match and facilitated a UCLA attack that hit .265 in the second set, improving from the .143 mark in the first. Duffey registered 27 assists despite only featuring in two of the four sets.

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.
UCLA's approaching membership in the Big Ten Conference was initially announced more than two years ago, on June 30, 2022.
"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."
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+.

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.

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.

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
• 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.
• 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.
• Kate Reilly enjoyed a stellar beach career at Stanford where she earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Mechanical Engineering. She finished her four-year Cardinal career 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.