University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Tuesday Night Volleyball: UCLA at #3 Pepperdine
This Week — The 12th-ranked Bruins, 11-11 overall and 7-11 in MPSF play, will travel to Malibu to meet third-ranked Pepperdine (21-4,16-4) on Tuesday, Apr. 7 for a 7 p.m match. The Bruins will return home for battles on Friday (v. #4 UC Irvine, 22-4, 16-3 at 8 p.m.) and on Saturday (v. UC San Diego, 2-23, 0-19 at 7 p.m.). Both matches will be played in Pauley Pavilion. For tickets go to http://www.uclabruins.com/tickets
Live Coverage — Internet radio will broadcast all three matches at uclabruins.com. The Tuesday match at Pepperdine will be on live stream at http://www.pepperdinesports.com/collegesportslive/?media=478536 . Live stats will be available at the Wave website http://www.pepperdinesports.com/gametracker/launch/gt_mvolley.html?event=1393913&school=pepp&sport=mvolley&camefrom=&startschool=& . The UC Irvine match is slated for broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks. Fans can also follow the matches on UCLA's live Twitter feed @UCLAMVB.
Recapping Previous Action — UCLA fell in straight sets in last week's second matchup (Tues., Mar. 31) against top-ranked Hawai'i (13-25, 18-25, 18-25). Jake Arnitz led UCLA with seven kills. UH outhit the Bruins .465 to .114 and won the total blocks battle 12.5 to 2.0. In their first meeting of the week, UCLA dropped a five-set decision to Hawai'i on Monday (25-22, 25-23, 16-25, 19-25, 8-15). Trent Kersten recorded a career-best 11 kills in the contest, hitting .409. Arnitz, with 13 kills, and Mitch Stahl, with 11 kills, were also in double digits. Stahl added a career-best two block solos and 17.0 points in the contest. Hawai'i, which hit under .200 for the first two sets, rebounded to hit .311 for the match. --- .619, 333, .429 in the last three sets.
Bruin Notes — Success at the nets has moved the Bruins to seventh in the NCAA in blocks per set (2.65). Trent Kersten began the week ranked 20th in the NCAA in blocks/set (1.11) and Mitch Stahl was 24th (1.05). Stahl is also 15th in the NCAA in aces per set average (0.41). The Bruin team began the week ranked fourth in the NCAA in service aces per set average (1.53). UCLA set a school record with 15 aces in a match earlier this season against Limestone College.
J.T. Hatch was named Off the Block's National Freshman of the Week for his performance in matches at USC ( M28) and at Cal Baptist (M26). His 25-kill, 28.0 point effort against USC produced the highest totals of the season by a Bruin.
Jake Arnitz, Christian Hessenauer, Jackson Bantle, Eric Matheis, Jake Reeves and John Zappia earned a spot on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for their work in the classroom in Fall Quarter 2014.
Stat Notes (this season): Hatch has 8 matches with at least 10 kills. Stahl has 9 matches with multiple aces. Kersten has 10 matches with at least 4 block assists ... Stahl has at least one ace in each of the last eight matches ... Arnitz' six aces at USC was a season-best and his four straight in the third set tied Adam Naeve's school record, set in a 2001 match vs. Pepperdine.
UCLA had its biggest blocking match of the season in the match at Northridge (17.0 total blocks) on Feb. 6. UCLA registered a season low 2.0 total blocks (4 block assists) in its last match vs. Hawai'i on March 31. It tallied 5 block assists vs. Pepperdine earlier this season.
Coach John Speraw picked up his 50th win as UCLA head coach in the 3-1 victory at Cal Baptist on M26 (25-19, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23).
Last three matches -- Aces: Stahl-5, Hatch-2, Hessenauer-2, Arnitz-2; Block Assists: Stahl-8, Hatch-7, Sprague-7 Arnitz-6 ; Kills: Arnitz-27, Stahl-25,Hatch-17 ; Digs: Arnitz-20, Bantle-17, Matheis-13.
Scouting the Opponent — Pepperdine has won eight straight matches and is 21-4 and 16-4 in the MPSF. The Waves are ranked among the best nationally in several categories: 9th-aces, 5th-assists, 11th-blocks, 9th-digs, 3rd hitting %, 6th kills/set. Last week, Pepperdine defeated Cal Baptist 3-0 on Saturday and USC 3-0 on Thursday. Pepp dealt the Bruins a 3-0 setback (25-10, 25-20, 25-23) in this season's first matchup in Pauley on Jan. 27. The Waves hit .359 in the contest to UCLA's .125, had eight service aces and won the blocking battle 12.0 total blocks to 4.5. Jake Arnitz led UCLA with eight kills and hit .316 for the match.
Stats Comps --- UCLA/Pepperdine (to begin the wk)--- Hit% .243/.346; Asts: 11.3/12.7; Blocks: 2.7/2.6; Digs: 8.9/9.6; Oppt. Hit%: .242/.238; Kills: 11.8/13.5; Aces: 1.5/1.5
Coach Speraw: Year Three at UCLA — John Speraw (UCLA '95) is in his third season as the head coach at his alma mater, picked up his 50th career win as the Bruin's head man at Cal Baptist on Mar. 26. Last season, the Bruins moved out to a 9-1 record to open the season which marked the program's best start since 2012. UCLA jumped up to the top spot in the AVCA poll for the first time since March of 2012 after winning the Outrigger Invitational and posting a victory over then top-ranked Stanford. The team concluded the season with an 18-11 mark and a fifth-place finish in the MPSF. In year one, the Bruins went 21-11 and advanced to the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament.
In 10 seasons at UC Irvine, Speraw led the Anteaters to three NCAA championships (2007, 2009, 2012), and a 199-106 (.646) overall record. In winning that 2007 title, Speraw became the only individual to win a championship as a head coach, assistant coach and player in collegiate men's volleyball history. On Mar. 25, 2013, he was named head coach of the U.S. Men's National Team for the next quadrennial ending at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero. Last summer, he guided the U.S. team to a win over top-ranked Brazil in the FIVB World League gold-medal match. In the summer of 2012, he had served as an assistant coach for the National Team, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the London Olympics. Speraw earned AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2006 and was given the USA Olympic Committee's National Coach of the Year award in 2007.
Next Up in MPSF—Schedule: A7-UCLA at Pepp, Concordia at USC; A8-UCI at UCSB; A10-Stanford at Hawai'i, BYU at CSUN, UCSD at UCSB, UCI at UCLA; A11-Stanford at Hawai'i, BYU at CSUN, UCSD at UCLA
MPSF Standings
Hawai'i 16-2 21-3
UC Irvine 16-3 22-4
Pepperdine 16-4 21-4
USC 13-7 15-8
UCSB 10-8 14-8
BYU 10-8 13-9
Long Beach St 10-11 14-12
UCLA 7-11 11-11
Stanford 7-11 10-14
CSUN 7-12 10-15
Cal Baptist 2-18 6-20
UC San Diego 0-19 2-23