Check out a breakdown of the UCLA sports stories you might have missed this week.
Women’s water polo
Michael Hull, assistant Sports editor
The rankings released Wednesday made it official. The UCLA women’s water polo team is the outright top team in the country after taking down former-No. 1 Stanford 10-9 at Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday.
But that’s not all – the Bruins also swept the weekly conference awards, one of which rewrote a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation record.
Freshman attacker Maddie Musselman was named Newcomer of the Week for the sixth time this season, which is the most Newcomer of the Week honors given to any single first-year women’s water polo athlete in MPSF history.
Musselman scored two goals in the game against Stanford and split time with redshirt senior attacker Rachel Fattal as UCLA’s main defender on 2016 USA Olympic captain Maggie Steffens.
The previous record holder was the Cardinal’s Jordan Raney, who had five Newcomer of the Week honors in 2015, when Stanford beat UCLA for the national championship 7-6.
As for Player of the Week, redshirt senior attacker Kodi Hill took home that title after scoring all three of the Bruins’ third-quarter goals in the game against the Cardinal. Her two goals in the last minute and a half not only broke the game’s fourth tie, but gave UCLA a two-goal lead heading into the fourth quarter – its largest advantage of the game since jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the opening minutes.
Baseball
David Gottlieb, assistant Sports editor
Junior Griffin Canning took home Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors following his complete-game shutout April 13. The junior right hander struck out 12 and did not walk a batter in the four-hitter, throwing 122 pitches in the process.
This honor came just five days after Canning was named as one of 40 players on the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list.
Canning figures to be the first Bruin selected at the MLB draft this June. MLB.com has him as the 2017’s draft 39th-best prospect.
Canning’s 78 strikeouts on the season rank second in the Pac-12, and his 2.77 ERA ranks 10th. He has also tallied up more strikeouts looking than any other conference pitcher. He will start Friday against No. 1 Oregon State at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Women’s volleyball
Kelsey Angus, Daily Bruin reporter
Incoming freshman Mac May earned a spot on the U.S. Women’s Junior National Team that will compete in the U20 Women’s Pan American Cup in May.
May was named Iowa’s Gatorade Volleyball Player of the Year and previously helped the U.S. to a silver medal in the 2016 NORCECA Women’s U20 Continental Championship.
The outside hitter tallied 1,752 in her four-year career at Wahlert Catholic High School and led the team in kills all four seasons.
At 6-foot-3, May brings height to a UCLA team whose starting outside hitters last season stood 6-foot-1 and 6-foot.
Next season, the Bruins lose outside hitter Jordan Anderson, but rising senior outside hitter Reily Buechler, the second starter, will be returning. May will compete with various returning players for the second starting spot along with fellow freshman Alexis Light, who joined UCLA this spring.
Men’s water polo
Michael Hull, assistant Sports editor
A new Team USA has assembled to compete in the FINA Intercontinental Tournament coming up in just a few weeks’ time, and UCLA has more athletes on the roster than any other school.
2016 Rio Olympian Alex Roelse, along with rising redshirt senior attacker Max Irving and rising redshirt sophomore goalie Alex Wolf have made the team, which will compete against a series of other countries in Australia.
Irvine and Roelse were third and fourth in goals, with 30 and 29, respectively, on last year’s men’s water polo team that fell to eventual-champion California in the semifinal of the NCAA Tournament.
Wolf redshirted last year behind UCLA career-saves and single-season-saves record holder Garrett Danner, who in his senior season recorded 159 saves in 17 starts.
As a freshman, Wolf recorded 77 saves in 17 appearances, including a 16 save game against San Jose State.