MVB Returns to Action on Friday-Saturday
Bruins Host Cardinal For A Pair — Second-ranked UCLA (16-4, 5-1), which has won five straight matches, returns to the court after the exam break for a pair of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) contests against No. 6 Stanford (9-9, 2-4) on Friday and Saturday in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. The battles with the Cardinal will mark the 19th and 20th straight matches in which the Bruins have faced an AVCA-ranked opponent this season. UCLA has won its last 13 home regular-season MPSF matches dating back to a 2021 loss to BYU. This weekend's matchup features the top two serving teams in the MPSF (UCLA is No. 1 at 1.86/set and Stanford is No. 2 at 1.51/set).
• First Serve vs. Stanford (Fri. Mar. 29): 7 p.m. PT
Video: Pac-12 Network (Anne Marie Anderson) https://pac-12.com/live?networks=P12BAY
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=498662
• First Serve vs. Stanford (Sat. Mar. 30): 5 p.m. PT
Video: UCLA stream https://pac-12.com/live/ucla
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=498663
UCLA has six regular season matches remaining before heading into the MPSF Tournament (at USC) which will determine the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship tournament. The Bruins have won at least two sets in all but one match this season, a 1-3 loss at top-ranked Long Beach. The eight-team NCAA bracket will be announced on ncaa.com on Sunday April 21. NCAA Quarterfinal matches begin at Long Beach State on Apr. 30.
With the home win over top-ranked Long Beach earlier this season, UCLA has defeated the AVCA's No. 1-ranked team in each of the last four seasons -- 2024: Feb. 10 Long Beach (3-1) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom; 2023: March 6 Hawai'i (3-1) in Fairfax, Va.; 2022: Feb. 19 vs. Long Beach (3-2) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom; 2021: Feb. 4 at BYU (3-1).
UCLA and Rankings — UCLA was voted No. 2 in this week's AVCA coaches poll and in the Off the Block Blog media listing. After starting out 2024 as the top-ranked team in the pre-season poll and first two listings of the regular season, the Bruins have now been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AVCA poll at some point in seven of the last eight seasons (not in 2021) ... The Bruins have risen as high as No. 1 in the AVCA poll in five seasons under John Speraw -- 2024,2023, 2022, 2016, 2014 ... UCLA has ended a season ranked No. 1 in the AVCA poll a record 10 times (1987, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995,1996, 1998, 2000, 2006, 2023) over the years.
Ranking Notes — UCLA is ranked among the nation's top 10 entering the week as a team in hitting % (2nd-.367), blocks per set (4th-2.57), aces (4th-1.86), set assists (6th-12.10) and kills per set (7th-12.81) ... So far in 2024, UCLA has 10 double-digit total block efforts (Lewis, Loyola,Ohio St., UCSB, UCI, Long Beach 2x, Pepp, BYU, USC), three double-digit ace performances (Lewis-14, UCI-10, Pepp-10) and has hit at least .400 in eight matches (Ft. Valley St., Morehouse, UCSD, UCI, Pepp, BYU, at USC, Ohio St.-h) ... One Bruin rates among the nation's top 10 -- Andrew Rowan is 6th in the nation in set assists/set (10.23) ... Ido David is rated 11th in aces per set (0.47) ... Merrick McHenry began the week T13th in blocking (0.97) ... After recording a block solo in this year's home match against Long Beach, McHenry moved past Garrett Muagututia (2007-10, 44), and has risen to the top of the school list for career block solos (currently has 47 solo stuffs) ... currently ranked second nationally, UCLA is looking to lead the nation in hitting percentage for a third straight season (last season .382; 2022 hit .374).
Player Notes — Ethan Champlin is the team leader with 9 double-digit kill matches as OH in 2024 ... Ido David has at least one ace in 12 of his last 14 matches (27 this season, began week ranked 11th in NCAA 0.47 avg.) he has played in ... Guy Genis has 13 multi-block matches this season ... Merrick McHenry has hit at least .400 in each of the last 17 matches ... Sean McQuiggan has started at middle blocker in 6 of last 7 matches ... Zach Rama has double-digit points in 4 of last 6 matches ... Cooper Robinson has double-digit points in 7 of last 9 matches and at least one ace in 7 of last 9 matches (total of 13) ... Andrew Rowan has multiple aces in 9 matches and the team has hit at least .350 in 11 matches he has started in '24.
MPSF — The Bruins had a 21-match MPSF regular-season win streak snapped at BYU earlier this season. UCLA finished atop the 2023 MPSF standings with a 12-0 record last season and is picked to repeat by the coaches ... the '24 Pre-season MPSF coaches poll: 1-UCLA, 2-Stanford, T3-BYU, T3-GCU, 5-USC, 6-Pepperdine, 7-CUI ... this year's MPSF Post-Season Tournament will be held at USC on April 17-20 with the league's auto bid to the NCAA Tournament on the line. FloSports (pay service) will provide live streaming coverage of the championship tournament again this year. This year's NCAA tournament will feature eight teams with two at-large bids and six spots going to conference winners. Quarterfinal action begins on April 30 at Long Beach State.