UCPD investigating deceptive phone calls from people impersonating officers

University police are searching for multiple people who impersonated UCPD officers in an attempt to extort money from UCLA students and staff.

The callers contacted multiple UCLA students and staff members and tried to convince them that they or someone they know had an outstanding warrant. The callers, who began the scheme March 14, also claimed that someone was using the victim’s identity to buy or sell drugs from the Dominican Republic, according to a UCPD alert.

The callers also demanded that the victim pay a fine to avoid arrest.

To the victims, the call appeared to come from UCPD’s main phone number but in fact was made from a private caller.

UCPD did not provide a description of the callers.

UCPD said it would never call someone and demand payment, nor would it ask for payment via mail or bank transfer.

The case is still under investigation. Anyone with information about the case can call UCPD at 310-825-1491.

UCLA parents involved in college admissions scandal will plead guilty to charges

UCLA parents involved in the recent college admissions scandal plan to plead guilty to fraud charges.

Davina and Bruce Isackson agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud, according to a Los Angeles Times article.

Bruce Isackson additionally agreed to plead guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The couple was accused of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to get their daughter, Lauren Isackson, admitted to the UCLA women’s soccer team despite having no competitive soccer experience.

In an email statement from their attorney, the Isacksons apologized for their actions and said they would cooperate with the prosecutors.

“No words can express how profoundly sorry we are for what we have done. Our duty as parents was to set a good example for our children, and instead we have harmed and embarrassed them by our misguided decisions,” they said in the statement.

Bruin rowing faces nationally top-ranked teams at San Diego Crew Classic

The Bruins returned to action this weekend after a three-week break.

UCLA rowing (2-0) raced in the San Diego Crew Classic on Mission Bay in San Diego. The Bruins kicked off the Classic on Saturday and finished with the Grand Finals on Sunday.

UCLA’s varsity eight crew took third place in its six-boat heat on Saturday, finishing just behind two top-three teams in No. 1 Washington and No. 3 Stanford. The Bruins edged out Tennessee, Gonzaga and San Diego State.

UCLA’s second varsity eight took second place behind Washington, finishing at 6:58.467 compared to the Huskies’ time of 6:45.479.

The Bruins’ varsity four crew also finished in second, falling to No. 2 California’s varsity four by just under 10 seconds.

UCLA’s novice eight clocked in at 7:21.822, finishing in third place behind No. 4 Texas and Washington.

In Sunday’s Grand Final races, UCLA raced with five crews.

The Bruins’ varsity eight took fifth place, posting a final time of 6:50.334. The four teams that finished ahead of UCLA were the top four teams in the country – Washington, California, Stanford and Texas.

UCLA’s second varsity eight crew also took home a fifth-place finish in the Grand Finals, crossing the finish line at 6:58.214.

The Bruins’ novice eight and varsity four crews took third and sixth place, respectively, in their Grand Final races. The novice eight crew clocked in at 7:21.524 while the varsity four boat finished with a time of 7:27.513.

UCLA’s second varsity four took home a second-place finish, clocking in at just under 11 seconds behind Washington State.

The Bruins next will race at the Clemson Invitational at Lake Hartwell on April 19 and 20.

Women’s water polo barely outdone by Cardinal, blows Spartans out of the pool

A close loss derailed the Bruins’ perfect conference record – but the team bounced back.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (21-4, 4-1 MPSF) split two weekend games, falling 7-6 to No. 1 Stanford (16-1, 4-0) on Saturday before winning 13-3 at No. 18 San Jose State (9-12, 1-3) on Sunday.

The Bruins took the lead over the Cardinal with about a minute remaining after junior attacker Maddie Musselman scored. However, Stanford’s two late goals ended the UCLA’s chance to upset its rival.

UCLA kept it much closer against Stanford on Saturday compared to its matchup earlier this season on Feb. 23. The Bruins lost by six goals then, but had the chance to win late in the game this time around.

“Over the last five weeks, it’s been the most consistent training that we’ve had since I’ve been a part of the program,” said coach Adam Wright. “That usually translates to something good. Their hard work is starting to pay off, but we have to keep this going.”

The Bruins started out slowly in Saturday’s game, failing to score in the first half. They picked it up in the third quarter, scoring twice to make the score 4-2 before the final frame.

Senior goalie Carlee Kapana had 12 saves against the Cardinal, tying her season high. Musselman scored twice, but the All-American could not extend the Bruins’ winning streak.

Junior attacker Bronte Halligan said having five different scorers against the Cardinal forced their opponents not to focus on one person, allowing for more open shots.

“We worked a lot on different players stepping up,” Halligan said. “It showed as we had lots of players score (against Stanford). We’re no longer relying on one or two people, but we’re relying on the team as a unit. It makes for a big difference.”

The Bruins scored one against the Spartans in the opening period before adding five in the second to lead 6-2 at halftime. Five different Bruins scored in that time frame, led by two from Halligan.

Halligan, Musselman and senior center Sarah Sheldon each scored twice in the second half to put the Spartans away. Sophomore goalie Jahmea Bent relieved Kapana in the second half, making seven saves while allowing just one goal.

“Confidence is key for us,” Kapana said. “Keeping our confidence high, but not too high, is what we need. I think staying consistent throughout each game and approaching each game with the same mindset (is important).”

With just one MPSF game remaining, the Bruins will have the opportunity to clinch the No. 2 seed in the tournament with a win against No. 2 USC (21-1, 3-1).

Wright said although the Bruins have made major improvements over the last month, the team still had lapses in its second game of the weekend.

“Overall, the effort (against the Spartans) wasn’t where we needed it to be,” Wright said. “We got the result, but we have a long way to go. If we grow the right way, (the end of the season) is when that peak should happen.”

Beach volleyball loses winning streak to USC at Pac-12 North Tournament

The Bruins couldn’t hold on to their perfect record any longer.

No. 1 UCLA beach volleyball (26-1) posted wins against Washington (6-10), No. 12 California (16-5) and No. 19 Stanford (9-13) – but lost its first match of the season to No. 2 USC (20-4) 3-2 at the Pac-12 North Tournament on Sunday.

“In a sense, we’ve been wondering when somebody would challenge us like this and give us our first loss so we could take the opportunity to take a deep look at how we get better,” said coach Stein Metzger. “It’s a lot easier to make adjustments and to learn from a loss than from a win and it couldn’t be better timing because we go into a two-week period where we don’t have any competition and we get to train.”

Courts one and two played first in Sunday’s match with the Trojans – and both Bruin pairs fell short.

Seniors Nicole and Megan McNamara lost 21-16, 21-11 to USC’s Abril Bustamante and Tina Graudina on court one, running a 1-2 record against the Trojan pair this season.

“They’re tall and very physical, so we always know that we’re going to have a battle when we play against them,” Nicole McNamara said. “We were just off this morning and that’s the type of team that we can’t be off when we play against them because they’ll make us pay for it.”

UCLA’s victories on courts four and five tied the dual at 2-2.

The dual was decided in a three-set battle on court three, where senior Zana Muno and freshman Abby Van Winkle fell 21-16, won 21-10, and lost 15-13 to Haley Hallgren and Alexandra Poletto.

“After playing (USC), they definitely went out of my comfort zone and did things we were not expecting,” Van Winkle said. “So I think practicing and getting more comfortable with certain plays will help us.”

Muno and Van Winkle – who were UCLA’s only undefeated pair prior to this weekend – went just 1-3 in the tournament.

Metzger said the Bruins have been consistent in their fours and fives, which makes them hard to beat. However, he said the Trojans were able to do it this weekend by taking all three of the other courts.

“(USC)’s top three flights are quite good as ours are, so in any one of those you could call it a coin flip depending on the day,” Metzger said. “Where we’re great is in the fours and fives. Though USC can beat us, they really have to line it up in those three spots on a given day, which is a tall order, but definitely doable.”

The Bruins posted three wins in the tournament, including a 5-0 win over the Huskies, and two 4-1 wins over the Golden Bears and the Cardinal.

The match against Washington was UCLA’s 15th sweep of the season and marked Nicole McNamara’s 100th career victory.

Despite UCLA dropping its first dual of the season, Nicole McNamara said the loss can benefit the team.

“I think that it’s not the worst thing that our team gets a loss under our belt,” Nicole McNamara said. “It would have been a lot of pressure going into postseason undefeated – anything can happen in the postseason. Now that we’ve experienced a loss, it will motivate us even more.”

Softball hammers Arizona State with 35 runs, three mercy-rule wins in series sweep

In the Arizona heat, the Bruins just kept on scoring.

No. 1 UCLA softball (35-1, 9-0 Pac-12) swept No. 19 Arizona State (25-14, 5-7) in Tempe, Arizona, after driving in 35 runs over the span of three mercy-rule victories to bring its season-high winning streak to 19 games.

The Bruins beat the Sun Devils 10-0 and 9-0 on Friday and Saturday, respectively, before winning 16-5 on Sunday in 95-degree heat. Despite the victories, UCLA remains behind No. 8 Arizona in the Pac-12 standings – which tops the conference with 12 wins.

The Bruins’ first mercy-rule shutout came on Friday, as freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo posted nine strikeouts to record her 12th win of the season. Junior utility Bubba Nickles went 2-for-3 after hitting an RBI single in the first and an RBI double in the third.

Nickles said she was proud of the team’s hitting over the series and that UCLA must remain consistent in order to extend its streak.

“These past three games were a great representation of us just being ourselves and sticking with our plan,” Nickles said. “I was definitely feeding off of the energy of my teammates and how they hit the ball, so I felt like it wasn’t just me putting runs on the board but my teammates (instead).”

Senior catcher Taylor Pack also went 2-for-3, blasting two two-run home runs in the third and fifth innings to cement the Bruins’ 13th shutout win of 2019.

Pack said her hitting success came from weekly tee practice and simplifying her swing, as well as how squad depth will allow for mercy-rule victories moving forward.

“At any point in the lineup, anyone has the potential to hit a home run and be the one who drives a lot of runs in,” Pack said. “No matter where (the coaches) are putting us in the lineup, we don’t really have any holes right now, and so (our confidence) continues to drive us forward.”

UCLA’s shutout on Saturday saw undefeated redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia earn her 15th win of 2019 with 12 strikeouts and only three hits allowed. Pack catalyzed the Bruins’ offense early with an RBI double in the first and finished 3-for-4, including a two-run blast to left center in the fifth.

Coach Kelly Inouye-Perez said she was proud of the team’s mentality and persistence to improve upon last weekend’s narrow victories by stepping up at the plate.

“We earned a lot of what we did this weekend, especially with extra-base hits,” Inouye-Perez said. “There were some free passes, but a lot of extra-base hits accounted for the run production. It was a powerful weekend.”

The Bruins’ 16-run offensive display on Sunday completed their sweep of the same Sun Devil squad that shut them out in the first game of last season’s series. Sophomore pitcher Holly Azevedo picked up her eighth win of 2019, despite ASU’s two two-run home runs in the third inning.

“If you get caught up on the highs and lows, or what other people expect, then you find yourself riding a rollercoaster,” Inouye-Perez said. “We’re fortunate to be surrounded by a lot of talent so that we aren’t relying on any one person for this team to win.”

UCLA has a chance to continue their winning ways when they host unranked Oregon (16-19, 1-8) in a three-game series at Easton Stadium starting Friday.

Baseball overcomes Stanford with two double-digit scores after initial loss

The Bruins solidified their spot atop the national rankings in this weekend’s Showdown Out West.

No. 1 UCLA baseball (23-6, 9-3 Pac-12) dropped the first game of the series to No. 2 Stanford (20-5, 7-2) 3-2 Friday night, but won 11-5 and 10-7 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, to clinch the series in Stanford, California. The Bruins outscored the Cardinal 23-15 over the weekend, tied for their second-most runs scored in a series this season.

“I think we proved that we’re the team to reckon with,” said junior first baseman Michael Toglia. “No game is going to be easy and we’re going to fight until the end.”

The series opener was decided when the Cardinal walked off with a two-out, bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth. The Bruins trailed 2-0 by the top of the frame, but an RBI double by junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler and an RBI, pinch-hit single by sophomore catcher RJ Teijeiro evened the score at two.

The Bruins’ offense produced nine hits Friday — compared to the Cardinal’s ten — but left nine men on base. Despite loading the bases with one out in the eighth, juniors second baseman Chase Strumpf and left fielder Jack Stronach struck out to end the inning without a run.

“Runs are hard to come by on Fridays,” said coach John Savage. “It’s always a little different hitting on Friday night against No. 1 (pitchers).”

Sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway endured his longest outing of the season in his eighth consecutive Friday start with 7 2/3 innings. Pettway let up a solo home run in the first to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead, but pitched more than six scoreless innings before giving up another run in the eighth. Pettway’s night ended with five strikeouts, two walks and two runs allowed off eight hits.

The Bruins evened the series Saturday afternoon with a season-high 15 hits – five belonging to Stronach, setting a new career-high for the junior.

Senior designated hitter Jake Pries kick-started the offense in the first with a two-RBI triple down the right field line. Pries later scored in the inning off Stronach’s single to the right side that gave the Bruins a 3-0 lead.

The Cardinal responded with four runs over the next two innings off redshirt junior right-hander Jack Ralston to take a 4-3 lead. Three of the runs were unearned, however, because of two Bruin errors.

UCLA claimed the lead for good when Toglia stepped up to the plate in the fourth. The junior shot the ball over the left field fence for a two-run home run to make the score 5-4.

Toglia led UCLA with five RBIs – the most for a Bruin this season – and said the Bruins’ approach at the plate sparked their offensive production.

“On Saturday and Sunday, we came out a little more aggressive,” Toglia said. “We were more aggressive to our approach and executing our plan at the plate.”

The Bruins added four insurance runs in the following frame with RBI doubles by Strumpf and Stronach, a sac-fly by Pries and an RBI groundout by Toglia. Another two runs were added in the seventh off Toglia’s two-RBI double down the right field line to make the score 11-5.

After Ralston allowed five runs over five innings, the Bruin’s bullpen didn’t allow a hit over four scoreless frames.

Junior right-hander Ryan Garcia got the nod in his second consecutive rubber match after facing off against USC last March 31. Garcia again picked up the win to clinch a series victory for the Bruins, striking out a career-high 11 batters over seven innings of work.

“I did go after them,” Garcia said. “You have to be locked in with Stanford.”

The Bruins held a 2-1 lead in the third after two sac-flies from Pries, but a three-run home run from designated hitter Will Matthiessen gave the Cardinal a 4-2 advantage.

After senior third baseman Jake Hirabayashi hit another sac-fly to cut the deficit in the fourth, the Bruins poured on the runs in the seventh.

Kreidler began the rally with a two-RBI double to give the Bruins a 5-4 lead. Four more runs were added that inning after a sac-fly by Stronach and a three-RBI triple off the right field wall by freshman center fielder Matt McLain.

Toglia walked with the bases loaded in the following frame to give the Bruins their tenth run – the Bruin’s sixth time reaching that mark this season.

The Cardinal responded with a solo home run and two-run home run in the seventh and eighth, respectively, but it wasn’t enough to surpass the Bruins’ second consecutive double-digit game.

Garcia said the series displayed the strength of UCLA and the conference as a whole.

“We proved that we can hang with the best of them,” Garcia said. “We also showed that the Pac-12 is the best conference in the country.”

The Bruins will return to Jackie Robinson Stadium to face UC Irvine on Tuesday at 6 p.m.