This weekend, No. 2 UCLA will face the biggest threat to its undefeated record. After facing its first high-level competition against No. 11 Long Beach State and No. 14 UC Santa Barbara last week, the waters will become even tougher to tread this weekend with No. 4 Cal and No. 8 Hawai’i.
After winning all four meets last weekend by a wide margin of 14.25 points per game, the Bruins swept the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation weekly awards. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Sami Hill won the MPSF Player of the Week award, while freshman attacker Devin Grab was awarded Newcomer of the Week. With Grab’s total of 12 goals and seven steals, and Hill’s 747th career save – a UCLA school record – the Bruins were able to capture the attention of the MPSF conference.
“That’s cool and unexpected,” Grab said. “It’s humbling and an honor, but we’ve gotta keep working hard.”
Indeed, the Bruins may need to work even harder over the weekend if they are to capture those conference honors for the second week in a row, as the Golden Bears (6-0) and the Rainbow Wahine (0-0) present the most difficult tests for the Bruins in the young season.
“I think the teams we play will be a great test,” said coach Brandon Brooks. “They are very good opponents and it will be a good test to see where we are at.”
The Stanford Invitational will also be a great test to see how the Bruins perform in an elimination series. After playing Cal and Hawai’i on Saturday, UCLA will face Indiana on Sunday. The Bruins’ success in the first three games of the tournament will determine whether or not they advance to the fourth game and who they will play.
“It’s not worried, but more of a nervous, excited feeling about how we are going to play,” Hill said. “We really want to work together and have good team chemistry. I think that’s our biggest fear that we will have.”
Defense has never been considered a weakness for UCLA – it is speed and strong coverage that the Bruins are known for and pride themselves on. But the UCLA offense may face a test against comparable stout defenses from Cal and Hawai’i.
“I’m excited,” Grab said. “I’m a little nervous because this is my first big tournament. I’m not quite sure what to expect. (Brooks) has been doing a good job preparing us, but personally I don’t know what to expect because I never played these teams, but I’m excited.”