MVB Closes Out Regular Season at BYU
THIS WEEK — UCLA (19-3, 9-1), ranked No. 1 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) poll, will battle Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) rival BYU (8-14, 3-7) on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. PT in Provo. UCLA clinched the top seed into the MPSF Tournament last weekend and will host the entire league tournament (Apr. 20-23) in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. It will mark the first time since 1998 that UCLA has hosted the entire MPSF Tournament on its home court. Home court has been a decisive factor in the series against the Cougars as the Bruins picked up their first win at BYU a year ago since the 2009 season.
• First Serve at BYU (Fri. Apr. 15): 6 p.m. PT
TV/Video: BYUtv / BYUtv.org /BYUtv App
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=byu
• First Serve vs. Pepperdine (Sat. Apr. 16): 6 p.m. PT
TV/Video: BYUtv / BYUtv.org /BYUtv App
Live Stats: http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statmonitr.php?gid=byu
MPSF STANDINGS (4/12)
UCLA 9-1
USC 6-4
Grand Canyon 6-4
Pepperdine 5-5
Stanford 4-6
BYU 3-7
Concordia 3-9
UCLA AS NO. 1 -- UCLA held its spot at the top in the AVCA poll for an eighth straight week. UCLA also enjoyed 8-week runs at No. 1 in 2005 and 1998. The last time it had a longer run atop the AVCA poll was in 1995 (13 weeks). This year's top ranking marks the first appearance for the Bruins at No. 1 since week 12 of the 2016 season (week of Mar. 28). UCLA defeated then No. 1 Long Beach State in five sets on Feb. 19, 2022 to advance into the top of the poll and has remained there. UCLA has been ranked as high as No. 2 in the AVCA poll in 6 of the last 7 seasons (not in 2021).
THE SCHEDULE AHEAD -- UCLA (complete records date to 1976) is tied in the all-time series against BYU 39-39.Over the past four seasons, UCLA is 5-6 v. BYU, but just 1-5 on the road in matches held against the Cougars in Provo.
MPSF/NCAA TOURNAMENT -- UCLA, as the top-seeded team from regular season play, will host the entire MPSF post-season Tournament beginning on Apr. 20 with three quarterfinal matches. Semis are on Apr. 21 and the Championship match on Apr. 23. UCLA will also be the host for the entire NCAA Tournament (7 teams) beginning with the Opening Match on May 1, Opening Matches 2 & 3 on May 3, Semis on May 5 and Championship match on May 7. The winners of conference tournaments from the EIVA, MIVA, Conference Carolinas, Big West and MPSF receive automatic bids to the event and will be joined by two at-large teams to be determined by the NCAA Committee on Apr. 24 (10 a.m. PT on NCAA.com).
NCAA/MPSF RANKINGS -- Entering the week, the Bruins are rated in the Top 10 nationally in hitting % (1st-.376), kills (3rd-13.26), set assists (5th-12.21), aces (10th-1.60) and blocks (7th-2.48). Merrick McHenry leads the nation in hitting percentage at .537. Miles Partain ranks 7th in the nation in set assists per frame at 10.25. Guy Genis is 8th in blocks (1.10). UCLA led the MPSF in hitting%, aces, blocks, opponent hitting% and kills per set.
TEAM NOTES -- UCLA has hit for a higher % than its opponent in all 19 wins this season; it has hit at least .350 in 17 matches and hit at least .400 in 7 of last 11 matches (season-high .576 mark at Morehouse, 3/25) ... Bruins own a 16-1 mark in matches when recording more blocks than the opponent ... UCLA has outblocked its last 7 opponents 63.0 to 26.0 and outaced its last 7 opponents 49 to 16 (with school record 18 at Fort Valley St.) ... Pepp hit .167 and .183 in last week's matches to mark the sixth and seventh straight matches and 12th time this season UCLA has held an opponent under .200 hitting percentage.
PLAYER NOTES -- Ethan Champlin has an ace in 15 of the last 16 matches and a total of 29 over that span ... he began the week 3rd in the MPSF and 17th in NCAA in aces (0.46) ... he had a school record four-straight service aces in a set during win at UCSD ... Miles Partain is 7th in NCAA in set assists (10.25) average ... he has 28 block assists in last 10 MPSF matches ... Guy Genis began the week 8th in the NCAA in blocks (1.10 per set) ... Genis had a season-best of 9 BAs at Stanford (3/12) ... Merrick McHenry opened the week leading nation in hitting% (.537) ... he has hit 78k-7e-114 (.623) over last 11 matches ... he established a career-high with 7 block assists at Pepp last Thursday and was named Off the Block Co-National Middle Attacker of Week ... Kevin Kobrine is ranked 18th nationally (9th in MPSF) in hitting percentage (.374) ... he has 90 kills over last 8 MPSF matches and had a season-high 14 kills at USC (3/31) and vs. GCU (3/4) ... Alex Knight totaled season-best 11 kills at CUI and 11 digs at USC.
AT HOME/AWAY -- UCLA is 8-2 in away matches this season (losses at Stanford, at Beach) ... the Bruins are 11-1 at home (3-1 in Wooden Ctr.-loss to Lewis; 8-0 in Pauley) ... Over the past six-plus seasons, UCLA is 55-7 in matches played in Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom (2016: 10-1--lost to UCI, 2017: 8-1--CSUN, 2018: 13-2--Long Beach 2xs, 2019: 7-1--Long Beach; 2020: 2-0; 2021: 7-2--lost to USC, BYU; 2022: 8-0). UCLA is 3-1 this season on Collins Court and 15-7 over the last six-plus seasons in the John Wooden Center.