Friday, January 20
Los Angeles, CA
7:00 PM
UCLA
vs
UC Santa Barbara
UCLA blocked its way past Princeton last week.
Photo by: Lillie Yazdi
MVB Hosts Matches on Friday and Saturday
January 18, 2023 | Men's Volleyball
Bruins Host UCSB and UCSD— UCLA, ranked No. 2 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, will host Big West Conference teams from No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (1-4, match at USC on Thursday) on Friday and UC San Diego (2-4, match on Wednesday; all four losses have come to ranked teams from UCLA, USC, Loyola-Chicago and Lewis) on Saturday. Both matches are set to be played in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom and start at 7 p.m. Saturday's match will be televised by Pac-12 Networks with Jack Cronin on the call.
MATCH INFORMATION
• First Serve vs. UC Santa Barbara (Fri. Jan. 20): 7:00 p.m. PT at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439508
Video: https://pac-12.com/live/ucla
• First Serve vs. UC San Diego (Sat. Jan. 21): 7:00 p.m. PT at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439509
TV/Video: Pac-12 Network/ https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12LAX
The Bruins (4-0) opened the season with sweeps of both teams in the Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara (26-24, 25-16, 25-14 over UCSB in which the Bruins outhit the Gauchos .424 to .082; 25-18, 25-16, 25-14 over UCSD in which Bruins outhit Tritons .377 to .121 and had 18-2 margin in aces). The January win over the Gauchos snapped a three-match skein versus UCSB. UCLA has won the past three meetings with UC San Diego. The Bruins tied the school record with 18 aces in the match against the Tritons earlier this season. Next week, the Bruins will travel to play at CSUN (2-2) on Jan. 27.
National Rank Comparison: UCLA UCSB UCSD
ACES 3rd 3.08 45th 0.65 34th 1.10
SET ASSISTS T31st 10.0 20th 10.7 30th 10.2
BLOCKS 5th 2.54 T43rd 1.15 T43rd 1.15
DIGS 32nd 7.23 17th 8.10 19th 7.85
HITTING % 4th .391 24th .259 25th .255
OPPT. HIT % 5th .119 39th .315 43rd .346
UCLA AND RANKINGS -- UCLA remained at 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 five 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 final 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.
TEAM NCAA RANKING NOTES -- UCLA is ranked third in the nation with an average of 3.08 aces per set which is helped by a school-record tying 18 aces by the Bruins against UCSD. UCLA ranked among the nation's top 10 in 2022 as a team in hitting % (No. 1 at .374) and blocks/set (No. 8 at 2.4).
MPSF -- Ethan Champlin was the first 2023 winner of the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week honors (1/9) after his performance in the UCSB Tournament ... 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, 4-Grand Canyon, 4-USC, 6-BYU, 7-Concordia, Irvine. This year's MPSF post-season Tournament will be held at Stanford as the location will rotate among the league schools going forward. Returners Miles Partain, 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.
HOME SCHEDULE -- UCLA will host upcoming matchups against ranked opponents this season versus No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 20), No. 3 Long Beach State (Feb. 9), No. 7 UC Irvine (Feb. 26), No. 10 USC (Apr. 6) and No. 5 Pepperdine (Apr. 15).
PLAYER/COACH NOTES -- Coach John Speraw will take aim at milestone wins at 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 ... Newcomers Andrew Rowan (MVP, Best Setter, Best Server) and Zach Rama (Best Attacker) helped the U.S. win gold at the 2022 U21 Pan American Cup held in Cuba in October.
MATCH INFORMATION
• First Serve vs. UC Santa Barbara (Fri. Jan. 20): 7:00 p.m. PT at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439508
Video: https://pac-12.com/live/ucla
• First Serve vs. UC San Diego (Sat. Jan. 21): 7:00 p.m. PT at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom
Live Stats: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=439509
TV/Video: Pac-12 Network/ https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12LAX
The Bruins (4-0) opened the season with sweeps of both teams in the Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara (26-24, 25-16, 25-14 over UCSB in which the Bruins outhit the Gauchos .424 to .082; 25-18, 25-16, 25-14 over UCSD in which Bruins outhit Tritons .377 to .121 and had 18-2 margin in aces). The January win over the Gauchos snapped a three-match skein versus UCSB. UCLA has won the past three meetings with UC San Diego. The Bruins tied the school record with 18 aces in the match against the Tritons earlier this season. Next week, the Bruins will travel to play at CSUN (2-2) on Jan. 27.
National Rank Comparison: UCLA UCSB UCSD
ACES 3rd 3.08 45th 0.65 34th 1.10
SET ASSISTS T31st 10.0 20th 10.7 30th 10.2
BLOCKS 5th 2.54 T43rd 1.15 T43rd 1.15
DIGS 32nd 7.23 17th 8.10 19th 7.85
HITTING % 4th .391 24th .259 25th .255
OPPT. HIT % 5th .119 39th .315 43rd .346
UCLA AND RANKINGS -- UCLA remained at 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 five 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 final 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.
TEAM NCAA RANKING NOTES -- UCLA is ranked third in the nation with an average of 3.08 aces per set which is helped by a school-record tying 18 aces by the Bruins against UCSD. UCLA ranked among the nation's top 10 in 2022 as a team in hitting % (No. 1 at .374) and blocks/set (No. 8 at 2.4).
MPSF -- Ethan Champlin was the first 2023 winner of the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week honors (1/9) after his performance in the UCSB Tournament ... 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, 4-Grand Canyon, 4-USC, 6-BYU, 7-Concordia, Irvine. This year's MPSF post-season Tournament will be held at Stanford as the location will rotate among the league schools going forward. Returners Miles Partain, 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.
HOME SCHEDULE -- UCLA will host upcoming matchups against ranked opponents this season versus No. 12 UC Santa Barbara (Jan. 20), No. 3 Long Beach State (Feb. 9), No. 7 UC Irvine (Feb. 26), No. 10 USC (Apr. 6) and No. 5 Pepperdine (Apr. 15).
PLAYER/COACH NOTES -- Coach John Speraw will take aim at milestone wins at 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 ... Newcomers Andrew Rowan (MVP, Best Setter, Best Server) and Zach Rama (Best Attacker) helped the U.S. win gold at the 2022 U21 Pan American Cup held in Cuba in October.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
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/ Men's Volleyball
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