Gymnastics falls to Oklahoma in first season loss despite posting 3 perfect 10s

UCLA and Oklahoma entered the last rotation tied at 148.200.

Senior Katelyn Ohashi was the final athlete up on balance beam for the Bruins – but the Sooners clinched the win before she could finish her routine.

No. 2 UCLA gymnastics (7-1, 6-0 Pac-12) posted its third-lowest score of the season on Sunday in its 197.775-197.575 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma (7-0, 1-0 Big 12). It was the Bruins’ lowest-scoring outing since Jan. 27th.

“You can’t come into this meet and just be good, and have a few 10s,” said coach Valorie Kondos Field. “This is where you really see the courage of your team and this revealed what we need to go home and work on, instead of just riding the crest of ‘We’re undefeated.'”

Junior Kyla Ross opened her day with a 10 on both uneven bars and vault – the two events on which the former Olympian has also managed to record perfect scores in competitions earlier this season. The two 10s were Ross’ sixth and seventh of the year and marked her fifth straight competition with a perfect score.

Ross is the only gymnast in the country with multiple 10s in one competition this year.

The Sooners finished the first rotation on vault with a .125 lead despite Ross’ perfect score. The Bruins’ 49.300 on uneven bars was their third-lowest score of the season on the event.

After two rotations, Oklahoma had a .475 lead despite Ross’ best efforts. The rest of the Bruins whose scores counted toward the team total on vault averaged 9.806. Vault is the only event on which UCLA does not rank No. 1 nationally − Oklahoma does.

“I feel like in our first two events we were in their heads a little bit,” Ross said. “They had more doubts in their head than confidence going into the event. I could feel it.”

Ross has yet to post a 10 on floor in her career. After being scored a 10 by one judge and a 9.95 by the other, the junior posted her fourth 9.975 of the season on the event Sunday, meaning that her quest for a “gym slam” will continue.

“I was really hoping for the 10 on floor,” Ross said. “But, hopefully, it will come in the next few meets. It was fun to start out so strong but it was kind of disappointing not to end the meet on a high.”

The Bruins’ 9.675 team score on floor was their third highest of the season.

Ohashi scored her fourth perfect 10 on floor with a routine that has been the most watched sports clip of 2019. If Ohashi had scored any lower than a 10, the two teams would not have entered their last events on even ground.

“ESPN – you’re welcome,” Kondos Field said. “We could not have asked for a more exciting storyline going into the last event, we were completely tied.”

Heading into beam, the Bruins boasted two athletes ranked in the top four, but despite a 9.875 from Ross and a 9.950 to cap off the rotation from Ohashi, Oklahoma edged out UCLA.

“I saw what was happening with our team and it looked like we were playing safe,” Ohashi said. “I didn’t see any of the scores, but I could tell. I wanted to go up and do my best and have my team’s back because of that.”

Ross’ 39.850 all-around score ties her career- and season-best and is the highest score in the country this season by .175. The other all-arounders in Sunday’s competition − Oklahoma’s Brenna Dowell and Anastasia Webb − posted a 39.500 and a 39.425, respectively.

UCLA owns 12 perfect scores this season and Oklahoma − which has the second most 10s as a team this season − has three. There are a total of 17 perfect 10s in the country this season and Ross has seven of them.

“We talk a lot about hitting that refresh button,” Kondos Field said. “I think we need to hit the refresh button on what makes a champion, what is the meaning of great. It really is all-encompassing.”

UCLA will return home for two meets in a row against No. 22 Stanford and Utah State before Pac-12 championship competition begins.

The Quad: How UCLA’s startup scene and classes help entrepreneurial Bruins find their way

Starting a business is hard.

Starting a business fresh out of college – or better yet, while still attending school – is even harder.

Although UCLA offers majors in business economics and economics, neither major focuses much on starting a business. While the entrepreneurship minor offers more practical business classes, most students interested in starting up their own business often have to resort to extracurricular clubs and organizations to gain startup knowledge and experience.

[RELATED: Jacqueline Alvarez: UCLA should offer a traditional business curriculum for undergraduates]

Unlike the pre-professional tracks aspiring doctors, lawyers and engineers must follow, there is no clear academic path to starting a business. Young entrepreneurs often focus more on acquiring practical skills and insights from businessmen and women who have started and run successful businesses before. Opportunities such as the Startup UCLA’s summer accelerator provide practical funding and expertise from consultants who have started their own businesses.

Phoenix Prefontaine, a 2018 alumnus who studied economics, is currently working on launching TYCHē, a consulting platform aimed at connecting small businesses to consultants at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

While studying as an undergraduate, Prefontaine said he found himself drawn to the entrepreneurship community at UCLA. During his third year, Prefontaine discovered Blackstone Launchpad, a national organization with chapters at certain schools like UCLA that help to support and mentor students interested in entrepreneurship.

Through the workshops and fireside chats Blackstone Launchpad held, Prefontaine said he gained practical business advice from people who had started businesses before, while meeting some of his best friends at UCLA.

“The UCLA startup community is very much a collaborative working environment. Everybody wants each other to do well,” Prefontaine said. “It is not very cutthroat like I would expect in this environment, where none of us really have our footing yet.”

Prefontaine said he originally chose UCLA over UC Berkeley Haas School of Business and a full regents scholarship to UC Santa Barbara because he believed UCLA could provide him with the most well-rounded opportunities for both social and entrepreneurship-oriented growth.

“I came to UCLA pretty uncomfortable in my skin, a bit more introverted and cared a lot about what people thought of me. This was hard because part of being an entrepreneur is networking,” Prefontaine said. “At UCLA, I made lasting friendships, I had opportunities to pitch my business twice, create a venture for a nonprofit and I had a couple public speaking events.”

Some students, like Josh Khalili, question the value of a traditional business curriculum. Khalili, a third-year cognitive science student, said he doesn’t think a formal business program is necessary to break into the venture capital or technology startup space. Khalili co-founded Bruin Ventures, an on-campus organization which aims to teach students how to succeed in the corporate, technological and entrepreneurship fields.

Despite lacking a business program, UCLA was ranked No. 1 out of 225 schools for business creation, according to a 2017 Milken Institute report. A big reason for the ranking is UCLA Technology Development Group, which promotes entrepreneurial research by UCLA faculty members and helps find venture capital funding for their projects.

While students like Prefontaine and Khalili have utilized clubs and organizations to help gain startup knowledge, other students have taken advantage of the few practical business classes UCLA does offer.

Jacob Wolpert, a fourth-year political science student minoring in entrepreneurship, is the founder of Blackout Apparel, a clothing company targeting college students and millennials that specializes in short-sleeved button-downs with crazy, party-themed patterns, he said. In contrast to Khalili and Prefontaine’s learning outside the classroom, Wolpert said the entrepreneurship classes he’s taken for his minor have helped him with his business aspirations.

“The most helpful on-campus resource for me has been the entrepreneurship classes I’ve taken for my minor, where through the guest speakers and projects, I’ve really been able to gain valuable tips and advice going forward,” Wolpert said. “Just last week in Management 165, we had a guest speaker who started a clothing company of his own, and he shared some valuable tips from his journey and what he’s learned along the way.”

Although it doesn’t seem like UCLA is going to create a formal undergraduate business program anytime soon, Khalili said the entrepreneurship scene has improved since his freshman year.

“When I first got here, it seemed like there was very much a corporate culture primarily coming out of the economics and computer science departments,” Khalili said.

With Los Angeles seeing a steady increase in funding for startups over the past few years, initiatives such as Startup UCLA, Bruin Ventures and Blackstone Launchpad, among others, are finding innovative ways to prepare entrepreneurial Bruins to enter a thriving local startup scene without the help of a formal business program. UCLA seems a more sympathetic place now for helping students cultivate their entrepreneurial spirit than just a few years ago, Khalili said. Prefontaine said he hopes the startup culture at UCLA continues to improve and inspire students to pursue their passions.

“Since graduating, I’ve realized how working on something you’re passionate about gets you excited every morning,” he said. “It makes me excited to wake up at 5 every single morning to work on my business.”

Men’s volleyball defeats Grand Canyon, hanging on to undefeated conference record

The Bruins concluded a round of conference matches with a victory to remain undefeated in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.

No. 6 UCLA men’s volleyball (14-4, 6-0 MPSF) defeated Grand Canyon (7-11, 0-6 MPSF) 3-1 on Friday at the Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix. The Bruins have defeated every team in the MPSF and will play each team once more this season.

“It means a lot to be undefeated at the halfway point of conference play,” said redshirt sophomore outside hitter Sam Kobrine. “We know how competitive every team is, especially Grand Canyon, so it means a lot knowing that we were able to grind out these wins.”

Redshirt junior opposite Brandon Rattray said despite the win, the Bruins lacked offensive cohesion at times.

“The connection was just a little off,” Rattray said. “The adjustments just weren’t necessarily the greatest, from myself in particular. (Grand Canyon) blocked me quite a bit. Our tempo was just a little off tonight.”

The Bruins posted 26 attacking errors – their second-highest single-game mark of the season – and were blocked 12 times, the third-most blocks by any of the Bruins’ opponents this year.

Rattray led the Bruins with 15 kills, tallied a season-high eight attacking errors and hit for .200 – his fourth-lowest efficiency mark of the season.

The Bruins posted 26 service errors and tallied a season-low one service ace. Rattray said the Antelope fans’ presence contributed to the Bruins’ discomfort at the service line and forced them to change their approach.

“Our serving just wasn’t clicking,” Rattray said. “There were a lot of hecklers, and I think that got to us a little bit. We just weren’t able to get in the groove like we normally do, so we went to the float serve.”

Kobrine said the transition to softer serving was a strategic move that played in UCLA’s favor.

“We were scoring a lot more points off our float serve and we made a lot less errors,” Kobrine said. “So really, it was giving our blocking and our defense a chance to make a good play on the ball.”

The Antelopes’ lone set win came in the second set when they hit .333 and held the Bruins to a mark of .241. The 25-21 win was Grand Canyon’s second set win against UCLA in program history.

“(Grand Canyon) played very good defense in the second set,” Kobrine said. “We didn’t adapt well to some of their strategic serving. They went with a lot of short serves, which kind of got us out of rhythm and contributed to a lot of missed opportunities.”

The Bruins won the next two sets 25-23 and 25-23 to claim the match and remain undefeated all-time against the Antelopes. UCLA – which controls sole possession of first place in the MPSF – will host the MPSF tournament if it wins the rest of its conference matches.

“It’ll be incredibly important for us to win out,” Kobrine said. “We know how tough it is to play at BYU (the host of last year’s tournament). It would be a real advantage for us to win out and have it at home, having a familiar gym and a familiar environment.”

The Bruins will compete in two nonconference matches before beginning the second half of MPSF play. UCLA will face Ohio State on Friday and Penn State on Saturday in the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge hosted by USC at the Galen Center.

UCLA baseball claims close walk-off win over Sacramento State

Another game ended on a walk-off, but this time, the Bruins were the ones who got to celebrate.

No. 4 UCLA baseball (8-1) returned to Westwood to defeat Sacramento State (3-5) 2-1 on a walk-off RBI-single by junior third baseman Ryan Kreidler, matching its four-game win streak that it started the season with.

The Bruins managed six hits Friday with two of them being infield singles. UCLA’s one through five hitters were one-for-nineteen, with their only hit coming from sophomore right fielder Garrett Mitchell, who tripled with one out the eighth inning and the game tied at one. But the Bruins were unable to bring Mitchell home.

Junior designated hitter Jack Stronach started the ninth with a hit-by-pitch and advanced to second via a passed ball allowing redshirt sophomore outfielder Jordan Prendiz to come on as a pinch runner. Kreidler then knocked an 0-2 pitch past the glove of the second baseman, scoring Prendiz from second after he slid just under the tag at the plate.

“Whenever you’re in a tight game like that, the short game is gonna come in critical,” said coach John Savage. “It’s baseball, you got to manufacture runs sometimes.”

Sophomore right-hander Zach Pettway got his third Friday night start of the season, going seven innings with one earned run and striking out nine batters.

“I thought Pettway was impressive,” Savage said. “It was a grind – you know there was a bunch of zeros.”

All the games Pettway has pitched this season have been a one-run games as well as the Bruins’ three lowest scoring games on the year. The close games have left his record without a win or loss and three consecutive no decisions.

“Being in games like this, it’s a dogfight,” said Pettway. “And you got to love dogfights. It’s why you play competitively, so you love those games that are close.”

On Feb. 22 against Georgia Tech, Pettway surrendered two runs through two innings, but Friday, he did not allow a hit until the fourth. He attributed his performance to a change in mentality compared to his previous start.

“(Against) Georgia Tech I was a little more emotional,” Pettway said. “I think this week I was big on just doing the same things, being repetitive and making sure I was the same person throughout the game.”

After four innings of no score, the Bruins took a one-run lead after a base hit by Kreidler and an infield single by sophomore shortstop Kevin Kendall allowed junior catcher Will McInerny to move both runners over with a sacrifice bunt. Senior left fielder Jake Pries – who replaced junior outfielder Jeremy Ydens after he suffered a hand injury on a bunt – drove a high fly ball that was caught just short of the left field wall, scoring Kreidler on the sacrifice fly.

“Jackie (Robinson Stadium) was playing pretty tough for hitters tonight,” said Kreidler. “Our job is just to find ways to get on base and some days that’s small ball or some days hitting home runs. Today it was drawing walks, hit-by-pitches, passed balls and bunting.

The Bruins were able to yield two walks, reach base twice on bunt attempts that went for singles and were hit by pitches twice Friday night.

Just when UCLA had two relievers warming up in the bullpen, Pettway – who had retired the previous six batters – gave up a home run to left to Sacramento State designated hitter Martin Vincelli-Simard in the seventh inning, tying the game at one apiece. Pettway then retired the next two batters, finishing off the inning and ending his night.

“You’re going to give up things in baseball regardless of how good you are,” Savage said. “The way he responds is always so impressive to me and always such a good example for our team.”

The Bruins will continue their series with Sacramento State with a double-header Sunday starting at 12 p.m., after their game Saturday was pushed back due to rain.

UCLA women’s tennis is served 4-1 upset by rival Trojans

The Bruins failed to execute against crosstown foes.

No. 5 UCLA women’s tennis (7-2) fell 4-1 to No. 32 USC (6-2) at the Los Angeles Tennis Center on Friday afternoon, suffering its second loss of the season. The match came a day after rainy conditions postponed UCLA’s matchup with UC Santa Barbara.

The weather prevented the Bruins from practicing Thursday, but coach Stella Sampras Webster said the team did not let that impact their preparation for their rivals.

“We were practicing well beforehand and I don’t think it had any effect,” Sampras Webster said. “This team has experience. They know what they need to do as far as preparing for a match like this.”

Freshman Elysia Bolton and redshirt junior Jada Hart took down USC’s Danielle Willson and Becca Weissman in doubles competition, but Trojan victories on courts one and three earned USC the first point of the day.

“When we’re not executing well, it’s tough for us,” Sampras Webster said. “But we need to have a plan B.”

Execution continued to trouble the Bruins as Senior Alaina Miller lost her first singles match of the season yesterday, despite entering the dual on a seven-game winning streak. Fighting back from a 6-0 loss in the first set, Miller fell 6-4 in the second set to Weissman.

“I think (Miller) is going to be fine, she’s such a great player,” Sampras Webster said. “I’m sure she’s going to be working hard to get those wins that she knows she can get.”

Freshman Taylor Johnson got her first taste of a college rivalry yesterday, claiming her first set 6-2 over Willson. But Johnson’s bid for a win against her opponent ended as USC clinched the match early into her third set.

“The first set and a half was really good and then it went a little downhill, but I was ready to fight back in the third,” Johnson said. “I want to use this match to build on and keep moving forward.”

Sampras Webster said Johnson will benefit greatly from getting more matches under her belt.

“It’s going to take time for her game to develop, but I really believe in her,” Sampras Webster said. “She’s a worker and she’s going to figure this out.”

Hart earned the Bruins’ only point of the day, defeating USC’s Salma Ewing in straight sets 6-0, 6-2. Hart has now won her last two singles matchups after experiencing difficulties finishing games earlier in the season.

“I’ve been playing solid and staying disciplined,” Hart said. “So I just need to keep that going for the rest of the year.”

Despite tallying the Bruins’ only point, Hart said she is confident in UCLA’s ability to bounce back.

“We have to give USC their credit where it’s due,” Hart said. “But we have a strong team and as long as we continue to stay together, we can definitely benefit from this match and go forward.”

The Bruins will have two days to mentally and physically recover from a rivalry loss before they participate in the Carson ITF.

“It’s going to burn a little bit, which it should,” Sampras Webster said. “I’m glad if it’s going to happen that it’s going to happen now, so that we can learn from it and get better.”

Women’s basketball reigns over Utah 76-60 with a victory rooted in rebounds

The Bruins’ bench cheered as the bench players trotted onto the court.

Redshirt senior guard Chrissy Baird and freshman forward Shayley Harris brought the bench to its feet after they both recorded a defensive rebound in the final minutes of the fourth quarter in No. 25 UCLA women’s basketball’s (18-11, 11-6 Pac-12) 76-60 defeat of Utah (20-8, 9-8) on Friday night.

Baird and Harris each played just 15 and 47 minutes on the season, respectively, prior to entering the game.

“It’s cool to see the smiles on (Harris and Baird’s) faces,” said senior guard Japreece Dean. “I know (Baird’s) family is here, so I know it’s cool for them too.”

Dean logged five of her career-high 10 assists in the first quarter to give the Bruins an early 18-8 lead.

Dean – who has recorded a 3.95 assist-to-turnover ratio over the past four games – said the assists were the result of UCLA’s 22 fast-break points.

“One of our emphasizes was to push in transition and attack and there was open lanes,” Dean said. “And when people clog in, then there’s open people.”

Utah forward Megan Huff’s 11 second-quarter points helped the Utes cut a 10-point Bruin lead to just two with less than a minute left in the second quarter.

“In the second quarter we got mixed up on our defensive rotations and defensive executions,” said sophomore forward Michaela Onyenwere.

Utah held UCLA to shooting just under 27 percent from the field in the quarter before UCLA entered halftime with a 30-27 advantage.

The Bruins recorded three consecutive offensive rebounds with around four minutes left in the third quarter, the last bouncing into the hands of Onyenwere for her 11th double-double of the season.

Onyenwere – who finished with 29 points and 13 boards – followed the rebound with an and-one foul to stretch the UCLA lead to 46-36.

The Bruins rebounded 46 percent of their offensive misses, converting 18 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points. Coach Cori Close said the extra shot opportunities enabled UCLA to attempt 20 more field goals than Utah and mentally wore down the Utes.

“We’re built on creating more possessions,” Close said. “We didn’t always score on them, but it sort of broke (Utah’s) will a little bit. And that’s what (Onyenwere) does.”

Twelve of UCLA’s 19 second-chance points came from five of Onyenwere’s career-high 13 rebounds.

The Bruins scored eight of their 50 points in the paint during a 12-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to extend the UCLA lead to 22.

Close said the Bruins talked at halftime about working the ball inside the paint to adjust to Utah’s zone.

“We were able to get the ball inside better in the second half,” Close said.

The Bruins will celebrate Senior Day with their final game at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday against Colorado (12-16, 2-15).

“It’s kind of sad,” Dean said. “(But) it’s been a great run.”