University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins in Paris: July 31, 2024
July 31, 2024 | Bruin Athletics, Olympics
Men's Basketball
Jrue Holiday (2009) finished with five points, two rebounds, one assist and one block as Team USA defeated South Sudan, 103-86, in a Group C contest in Lille, France, on Wednesday evening. Team USA's victory helped propel the team into the quarterfinal stage with a 2-0 record, so far, through the group phrase portion of the Olympic Games.
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Holiday played 15 minutes against South Sudan on Wednesday. Team USA led from start to finish, outscoring South Sudan by a 55-36 margin through the first two quarters. The United States will return to action with its final Group C contest on Saturday, Aug. 3, taking on Puerto Rico at 8:15 a.m. (PT).
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Women's Basketball
Angela Dugalic (2022-present) and Team Serbia took down China on Wednesday, 81-59. With the team's second win in the group stage, Dugalic qualifies to advance to the quarterfinal round of the women's basketball tournament in her second-consecutive Olympic appearance.
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Women's Soccer
In the final day of the Group Stage, the United States defeated Australia, 2-1, to remain unbeaten in the tournament, headed into the knockout stage. Australia ended its Olympic run with a 1-2-0 record. Mallory Swanson (2017) played 80 minutes for the United States and had two shots on goal. Teagan Micah (2016-19) was the backup goalkeeper for the third straight match and did not play. The U.S. won Group B with nine points.
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Canada, needing a win over Colombia to advance to the knockouts, did just that with a 1-0 shutout victory. Canadian captain Jessie Fleming (2016-19) assisted on the game-winning goal, sending in a free kick that was headed in by Vanessa Gilles in the 61st minute. Fleming has one goal and two assists in the tournament. Canada finished in second place in Group A with three points despite a six-point penalty for a coaching infraction.
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Both Canada and the U.S. will play in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Aug. 3. Canada will face Germany at 10 a.m. PT, while the U.S. plays Japan at 6 a.m. PT.
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Women's Water Polo
The U.S. women's water polo team (second place in Group B) rebounded with a stellar defensive effort in a 10-3 win over Italy, improving to 2-1 in pool play on Wednesday, July 31.
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Team USA was led by a hat trick from former UCLA standout Maddie Musselman. She added one rebound and one field block in the win. The Bruins' Rachel Fattal also added a goal, a rebound, and a steal, while winning 2-of-3 sprints. Tara Prentice was held scoreless (only attempted one shot) in the contest. Team USA struck first in the opening two minutes with a goal from Fattal. The Americans led 3-1 at the end of one quarter. Musselman had the first word in the second period on a power play strike. The Americans built a 6-2 lead at halftime.
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Musselman scored her second goal to open the third quarter as Team USA would take an 8-2 lead into the final stanza. Musselman opened the scoring in the fourth period to complete her hat trick. The USA Women return to the pool on Friday, Aug. 2, when they take on France to close out group play at 6:30 p.m. local time/9:30 a.m. PT.ย The match will air live on USA Network and will stream on Peacock.
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Australia (second place in Group A) improved to 2-0 in pool play in Paris with a thrilling 15-14 shootout win over the current first-place team, Netherlands, on Wednesday. Both Bruins played and factored heavily in the win for the Aussie Stingers. Netherlands led 3-1 at the end of the first, but Australia closed the gap to 4-3 by halftime. UCLA sophomore Sienna Green scored her first of two goals to open the scoring in the third period, tying the game at 4-4. Then with the game tied at 6-6 in the fourth period, Green netted her second of the game with 1:03 to go to put Australia in front. Netherlands tied the game at the end of regulation, sending the contest into a shootout. Halligan put Australia up 11-10 with a penalty conversion.
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With the game tied at 14-14, Netherlands made a goalie substitution and Halligan converted another penalty shot to put the Stingers ahead, 15-14. Then the Aussies got a save to secure the victory. Halligan added one steal and one rebound in the win. Australia returns to action on Friday, Aug. 2, when they take on Canada at 2:00 p.m., local time (5:00 a.m., PT). That match will stream on Peacock.
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Tennis
The remaining Bruins had their time in Paris stopped, as Jean-Julien Rojer (2000-02) and Ena Shibahara (2017, 2018) suffered doubles losses at Roland Garros. Each was victorious earlier in the week, with Shibahara advancing to the mixed quarterfinals while reaching the women's second round. Rojer made the men's second round.
Shibahara and partner Shuko Aoyama of Japan were tasked with taking down the second-seeded pair of Barbora Krejcíková and Katerina Siniaková, hailing from the Czech Republic. Krejcíková and Siniaková earned a pivotal break of serve to lead 6-5 in the first set before closing it out. The second set was also close, as the Czech pair collected the lone break for a 7-5, 6-4 victory.
Shibahara also squared off with Siniaková in mixed play. A back-and-forth first set saw Siniaková and Tomas Machac secure the first three games against Shibahara and Kei Nishikori. The Japanese tandem answered by taking the next five games, but was unable to hold off its Czech counterparts. Siniaková and Machac ultimately prevailed 7-5, 6-2.
Rojer's fourth Olympic Games appearance was ended by third-seeded Americans Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul. The Dutch combination of Rojer and Robin Haase was broken for 2-4 in the first set and could not recover. Fritz and Paul seized three of the second set's first four games en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win.
Women's Volleyball
The U.S. women's volleyball national team staff members Karch Kiraly (head coach), Alfee Reft (assistant coach) and Sue Enquist (culture consultant) prevailed in a five-set thriller (25-17, 25-20, 20-25, 14-25, 17-15) over reigning world champion Serbia for its first win in Paris on Wednesday. The U.S., which has earned three points in the standings by splitting two five-set matches and is likely to advance to the quarterfinals, can clinch that spot with a win over host France at 4 a.m. (PT) on Sunday, Aug. 4.
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Texas alumna Chiaka Ogbogu led Team USA with an incredible blocking performance, recording eight of the team's 19 blocks in the match. Ogbogu totaled 14 points with six kills in her 11 attacks.
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"Good teams make good plays and it took Serbia a while to make some," U.S. Head Coach Karch Kiraly said. "Then they really started pouring it on in the third and fourth sets. We can't be surprised by that, just like they can't be surprised when we make a bunch of good plays in the first two sets. Then it became a closer, more fierce battle with both teams making good plays in the fifth set."
Bruin Olympians in the News
Newport Beach Olympian going for gold in Paris while caring for her cancer-stricken husband โ NBC Los Angeles (Maddie Musselman)
USA women's water polo bounces back with convincing 10-3 win over Italy in Pairs โ USA Water Polo
How UCLA alum Jordan Chiles won Olympic gold medal while living authentically ย โ NBC Los Angeles (Jordan Chiles)
U.S. men's basketball shakes up starting lineup, shuts down South Sudan โ Washington Post (Jrue Holiday)
Social Media Highlights
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Quarterfinal spot secured ?
โ Boston Celtics (@celtics) July 31, 2024
?? USA Network and Peacock pic.twitter.com/pWMXc51RDk
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Behind three goals from @maddiemusselman and nine saves from @theAshJohnson, the @TeamUSA Women defeated Italy 10-3 in group play earlier today. They now move to 2-1 with one more match coming on Friday.
โ USA Water Polo (@USAWP) July 31, 2024
RECAP: https://t.co/N2h7dEX0OK #Paris2024 #waterpolo #Olympics pic.twitter.com/p0Qqd6RaxL
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.@AngelaDugalic and the Serbian national team take down China, 81-59! ????
โ UCLA Women's Basketball (@UCLAWBB) July 31, 2024
With the win, Serbia has qualified for the quarter-finals!#GoBruins x #UCLAOlympians x #OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/efHl6hHLUP
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