March 5, 2013

Complete MVB Release 3.5.13

This Week -- The sixth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team continues its homestand this week, hosting league rivals Pacific on Mar. 8 at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion and Stanford on Mar. 10 at noon in the John Wooden Center.

Live Coverage -- Fans can follow all the matches on audio and GameTracker at uclabruins.com, and on Twitter @UCLAMENSVB. Friday's match will be streamed live on uclabruins.com and Sunday's match will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks. Kevin Barnett (play-by-play) and UCLA Hall of Fame coach Al Scates (color analyst) will call the action.

THE LAST MEETING UCLA 3 Pacific 0 January 27, 2013 Stockton, CA Bruins Earn First Sweep Against Tigers Fourth-ranked UCLA returned to the victory column Sunday afternoon with its first sweep of the season, blanking No. 14 Pacific in Stockton. Recap | Box Score

In The Rankings -- The Bruins (11-9, 7-7) are ranked sixth in the AVCA national rankings this week after falling in four sets to unranked UC Santa Barbara on Feb. 27 in the John Wooden Center. The Bruins are in seventh place of the league race, one-half match behind CS Northridge. Entering the week, Pacific was 5-9 overall, 3-9 in 12th place of the MPSF race and ranked 15th. Stanford was in fourth place with a league record of 9-6, 12-6 overall, ranked fourth.

Scouting the Opponents -- Pacific lost in four sets at home against Pepperdine on Mar. 1 and fell in four at home against USC on Mar. 2. Stanford beat visiting Pepperdine in five on Mar. 2 and won in five against USC at home on Mar. 3.

The Series -- The Bruins lead the all-time series with both opponents: 35-2 vs. Pacific and 62-19 vs. Stanford. UCLA beat Pacific 3-0 on Jan. 27 after falling in four sets at Stanford on Jan. 22. Last season, the Bruins beat the Tigers twice and split with the Cardinal, winning at UCLA and losing at Stanford. Stanford hasn't won in Pauley Pavilion since beating the Bruins 3-0 on Apr. 11, 2003.

Recapping the Week -- The Bruins established a school record by opening the season with seven consectutive five-set matches, winning five. In fact, no school in league history had played seven straight five-set matches. The streak came to an end on Jan. 15 in a four-set loss to Long Beach State in Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins lost to the Gauchos on Feb. 27 for the first time this season after beating them twice in Santa Barbara. UCLA committed 20 service errors with just four aces, and hit just .223 after averaging over 50 percent in hitting the previous week. Nine times this season the Bruins have committed 20 or more service errors with a record of 5-4 in those matches.

Spencer Rowe led UCLA with 16 kills (.519), two aces, four total blocks and 20.0 points, followed by 11 kills from junior Gonzalo Quiroga and 10 kills from Robart Page. For the month of February, Rowe hit .582 (64-7-98) and established career highs for kills (16) and points (20.0).

Speraw's First Season at UCLA -- John Speraw (UCLA '95) begins his first season as the head coach at his alma mater. In 10 seasons at UC Irvine, Speraw led the Anteaters to three NCAA championships, including the 2012 title. Last summer, he also served as an assistant coach for the USA Men's National Team, which advanced to the quarterfinals of the London Olympics. In his decade of service at UCI, Speraw compiled an overall record of 199-106 (.646). Speraw earned AVCA National Coach of the Year in 2006 and was given the USA Olympic Committee's National Coach of the Year award in 2007. His current career record is 210-115 (.649).

Coming Up -- Following their matches against Pacific and vs. Stanford, the Bruins will hit the road with league matches at Long Beach State (Mar. 13), at CS Northridge (Mar. 15), at UC San Diego (Mar. 29) and at UC Irvine (Mar. 30). UCLA returns home in April for matches against Cal Baptist (Apr. 4), BYU (Apr. 6), Pepperdine (Apr. 10) and USC (Apr. 12). All of those contests will be played in Pauley Pavilion.

For the 14th time in school history, UCLA will host the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship. The 2013 championship is scheduled for May 2 & 4 in Pauley Pavilion. For ticket information, please call 310-UCLA-WIN.