Football
Sam Connon, assistant Sports editor
Josh Rosen’s first NFL start was eerily similar to his time at UCLA.
The rookie quarterback earned near-universal praise and made several highlight plays, but his Arizona Cardinals fell just short of the victory.
Rosen threw for 180 yards and a touchdown with a 55.6 completion percentage Sunday afternoon against the Seattle Seahawks. He led the Cardinals into field goal range with under two minutes to play and the game tied, but veteran kicker Phil Dawson missed the go-ahead kick wide right and the Seahawks took the 20-17 lead with time expiring.
One week earlier, Rosen came into the game down two with four minutes to play, but a fourth down interception and a Hail Mary sack ended his only two drives of the day.
Rosen’s 15-for-27, sub-200 yard performance didn’t result in a lot of fantasy points, but further analysis showed that Rosen was on the brink of a 300-plus-yard, three-touchdown performance. Much like his days playing under Jim Mora at UCLA, Rosen’s performance was restricted by his receivers dropping the ball and poor pass protection.
The top-10 pick will remain as the Cardinals’ starter moving forward, and Rosen will take the field again Sunday afternoon against the San Francisco 49ers.
Beach volleyball
Joy Hong, assistant Sports editor
The Bruins are still about four months away from season, but some players are competing in international competitions to get a head start.
After competing in tournaments around the world during the summer, UCLA beach volleyball’s seniors Megan and Nicole McNamara entered the 2018 NORCECA Beach Volleyball Circuit in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, and took home the silver medal Sunday.
The McNamaras of Canada defeated Cuba’s Yanisleidis Sánchez and Arín Hechavarría in the semifinals 21-15, 21-18 to advance to the finals.
In the championship match, the sisters fell short 24-22, 21-15 to the United States’ Falyn Fonoimoana and Molly Turner.
Senior Sarah Sponcil is also competing internationally in Qinzhou, China, at an FIVB three-star tournament alongside USC graduate Kelly Claes.
The duo won two straight two-set matches to advance to the semifinal round. Sponcil and Claes, however, fell 21-19, 21-14 to Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Orsi Toth.
In the third-place match, Sponcil and Claes defeated Russia’s Ekaterina Birlova and Evgenia Ukolova 21-13, 21-16 to bring home the bronze.
The three seniors helped UCLA to its first-ever Pac-12 and NCAA championships in the 2018 season. The Bruins will begin their season in February.
Women’s golf
Gabriel McCarthy, assistant Sports editor
UCLA women’s golf claimed a number of awards after a record-breaking month.
Junior Mariel Galdiano was named the UCLA/Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week after she recorded her first career victory at the Golfweek Conference Challenge last week.
Galdiano logged a career-best round on the last day of the event, posting a 7-under-65. She finished the entire tournament with a 13-under-203, two strokes over Bruin sophomore Patty Tavatanakit. UCLA bested its school 54-hole record set this season, with a 32-under-832 as they won by 33 shots.
The victory was Galdiano’s first UCLA Student-Athlete of the Week of her career and marks the second time women’s golf has won the award this season, in back-to-back weeks after Tavatanakit won the last award.
Tavatanakit claimed another award of the week for women’s golf when she was named the Pac-12 Conference Golfer of the Month on Monday, after she won one tournament and finished second in two others.
Tavatanakit’s win came in at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate hosted in Minnesota at the Royal Golf Club. She set a course record and tied UCLA’s single-round mark with 9-under 63. Tavatanakit began the final round seven shots off the lead but made seven consecutive birdies from holes No. 9 to 15.
The Bruins had shot a school record 26-under-838 at the tournament, but that was replaced after they played at the Golfweek Conference Challenge last week. This is Tavatanakit’s second conference player of the month award, after she claimed the prize in April.