Jan. 10, 2012

Weekly Release | UCLA MVB on Facebook

This Week -- The third ranked UCLA men's volleyball team will travel to Honolulu, Hawai'i this week as they take part in the 18th annual Outrigger Hotels Invitational. The Bruins will first play Lewis College on Thurs., Jan. 12 at 6 pm PT, followed by a match against Springfield College on Fri., Jan. 13 at 6 pm PT. The team will then wrap up the tournament as they face Hawai'i on Sat., Jan. 14 at 9 pm PT.

Live Coverage -- Fans can follow all the matches via a live stats link that is available at UCLABruins.com on the events calendar on the front page. The Bruins' match against Hawai'i will also be broadcast live on TV on Fox College Sports. Check your local listings for more information.

In The Rankings -- This week, the Bruins remained at No. 3 in the AVCA poll after going 2-1 at the UCSB/asics Invitational. UC Irvine took over the top spot from BYU after receiving 12 first place votes. BYU came in second in the poll with three first place votes while the Bruins garnered one first place vote. UCLA is also ranked No. 2 by Volleyball Magazine.

Scouting The Tournament Field -- Lewis comes into their matchup with UCLA with a 1-1 overall record after splitting a pair of matches against Pepperdine. The Flyers, ranked No. 9 in the AVCA poll this week, are coming off of a 20-11 record in 2011 and a semifinals appearance in the MIVA tournament. Lewis is returning all but one starter off of last year's team and are led by senior middle hitters Aaron Flick and Matt Gallik, both of whom were second-team All-MIVA selections last season. Springfield College has yet to play a match up to this point and are led by their head coach Charlie Sullivan, who is in his 14th year of coaching the Pride and was named AVCA Division III National Coach of the Year in 2010. Hawai'i opened the season with two MPSF matches against UC San Diego, splitting both matches. Senior Steven Hunt had 21 kills in the two matches for the Warriors while also leading the team with five total blocks. UCLA will be participating in its 12th Outrigger Hotels Invitational and has won this event six times, including last year.

The Series With Lewis -- The Bruins lead the overall series with Lewis 14-3 and have not played against one another since the 2010 season. Current UCLA senior Jack Polales led all players with 18 kills in that match, which was a 3-0 UCLA victory. Kyle Caldwell had a match-high 48 set assists in the Bruins' win as well. In addition, current UCLA players Thomas Amberg, Nick Vogel, Jeremy Casebeer and Weston Dunlap played in that match.

The Series With Springfield -- UCLA has never lost to Springfield College, owning a 4-0 record all-time against the Pride.

The Series With Hawai'i -- UCLA leads the all-time series with the Warriors 56-20. Last season, UCLA won the Outrigger Hotels Invitational for the sixth time in its history after defeating Hawai'i 3-0. Weston Dunlap led the Bruins with 10 kills and a .643 hitting percentage in the victory. The two sides met again about a month later at Pauley Pavilion and split a pair of matches, with the Bruins winning 3-0 in the first match and Hawai'i winning 3-0 in the Kilgour Cup. Kyle Caldwell led UCLA with 11 kills in the Bruins' 3-0 victory while Dunlap and Thomas Amberg chimed in with 10 apiece. In the second match, Hawai'i outside hitter Jonas Umlauft led the Warriors to a sweep of the Bruins as he registered 15 kills to help Hawai'i earn the Kilgour Cup.

Recapping the Weekend -- The Bruins took two out of three matches at the UCSB/asics Invitational last weekend, defeating Cal State Northridge 3-1 in the first match and sweeping Ohio State 3-0 in the second to advance to the championship match against UC Irvine. However, UCLA would fall to UC Irvine in the finals 3-1. Against Northridge, Weston Dunlap led the Bruins with 14 kills while Jack Polales was second with 13. Thomas Amberg and Jeremy Casebeer each had nine kills apiece and sophomore transfer Evan Mottram had a game-high 12 digs. In UCLA's victory over Ohio State in the nightcap, Polales was the team-leader in kills with nine while sophomore Gonzalo Quiroga contributed eight. Amberg led the team in blocks with four total blocks on the evening. In the championship match against Irvine, the Bruins fell 3-1 despite jumping out to an early 1-0 lead. Casebeer led UCLA with 13 kills while Dunlap had 10 kills on a .529 hitting percentage. Kyle Caldwell had 42 set assists in the match while Mottram led all players with 13 digs. Carson Clark led the Anteaters with 17 kills.

Dunlap and Caldwell Named to the All-Tournament Team -- For their efforts in all three matches at the UCSB/Asics Invitational, seniors Weston Dunlap and Kyle Caldwell were named to the All-Tournament Team. Dunlap had 32 kills on a .682 hitting percentage and 14 total blocks in the three matches for a total of 40.5 points. He served one ace as well. Caldwell had 14 kills, 17 digs and 91 set assists in the tournament and registered 21.5 points.

Coming Up -- The Bruins will begin MPSF play next weekend, as they host the Stanford Cardinal on Fri., Jan. 20 at 7 pm and the Pacific Tigers on Sat., Jan. 21 at 7 pm. Both matches will be played at the John Wooden Center.