Beach volleyball looks to repeat 2018 victories against USC to stay on top

The Bruins’ national title defense will continue against their biggest rival.

No. 1 UCLA beach volleyball (5-0) will face crosstown rival No. 2 USC (0-0) at Merle Norman Stadium on Wednesday afternoon in the teams’ first of three scheduled meetings this year.

The Bruins won against the Trojans in their first meetup last season but fell 3-2 in their second dual. UCLA went on to win the next four meetings, including two 3-1 victories in the Pac-12 and NCAA championships.

Coach Stein Metzger said he knows the Trojans will be looking to defend their home sand and avenge their losses from last season.

“I expect that (USC) will be ready,” Metzger said. “(Our) team will be ready and excited to compete hard. USC is a very physical team and we’ll need to be playing at our best.”

The Bruins and Trojans last met in Gulf Shores, Alabama, in the contender’s bracket semifinal. Three of the courts went to the third set, and then-freshman Mac May and then-senior Elise Zappia clinched the win for UCLA to send USC home.

Junior Lily Justine competed against USC at the final stages last year. She said the Bruins will treat their rivals with the same respect as all of its opponents so far this season.

“Honestly, we’re just going to treat them like we treat every other opponent we face,” Justine said. “We won’t take them lightly. We’re just going to go out there and show them why we’re No. 1.”

The Bruins are coming off an undefeated weekend in Hawaii. UCLA won 24 of a possible 25 matches and registered three wins on the season against top-10 teams.

Metzger said the Bruin coaches remind the players to play the way they practice so they stay calm and collected in the bigger matches.

“We tell our teams to trust their training,” Metzger said. “They don’t have to do anything special. They just need to do what they do well. Really just focus on our own side.”

UCLA’s visit to Merle Norman will be USC’s second game of the afternoon. The Trojans will return Tina Graudina and Abril Bustamante, who played on court one against then-juniors Nicole and Megan McNamara.

Freshman Abby Van Winkle said the team has started off the season well even though its opponents have been trying to knock them off the top spot.

“I feel like we’ve been pretty strong,” Van Winkle said. “We kind of have a target on our backs. Everybody wants to beat us really bad. We just keep our composure and play our game and know we can be strong and competitive.”

 

Even with bevy of youth, men’s basketball sees leadership emerge after comeback win

Leadership was always going to be a question mark for the Bruins this season.

Aside from two redshirt juniors, UCLA men’s basketball’s rotation consists entirely of freshmen and sophomores. So it’s no surprise that after a nonconference slate that got former coach Steve Alford fired, the Bruins have struggled to stay above the .500 mark in Pac-12 play.

The maturity and intangibles that Aaron Holiday, Thomas Welsh and Lonzo Ball exhibited came in spurts without a true team general on the floor this year.

But UCLA’s 19-point second-half comeback win against Oregon on Saturday rekindled a few sparks of leadership with less than two weeks to go in the regular season.

“(Sophomore guard) Jaylen Hands, (sophomore guard) Kris Wilkes, myself, even (redshirt junior guard Prince Ali) now that he’s hurt – we try to do what we can to say things in a time of need,” said redshirt junior forward Alex Olesinski. “And I think that’s been helping us.”

Olesinski – who missed the first 13 games of the season recovering from a right foot stress fracture – is the only Bruin big man with collegiate experience, and he played a season-high 19 minutes against the Ducks.

Averaging one shot per game and less than five per 40 minutes played, Olesinski rarely holds the ball for too long and has plenty of experience playing zone defense.

And his maturity has begun to rub off on Hands.

“Last year, (Hands would) have times where he’d go a little crazy,” Olesinski said. “This year, he made a lot of big plays that game and he was levelheaded. I feel like he understood what it was and he didn’t force it too much.”

The same could be said of freshman guard Jules Bernard, who set a career high with 20 points Saturday. He made nine of his 11 free throw attempts and only turned the ball over once in a season-high 28 minutes on the floor.

While UCLA ranks No. 294 in turnovers per game and No. 340 in free throw percentage nationally, having almost all of its freshmen average more than 15 minutes of action per game has led to growth.

“I think they’re learning their roles a little bit better,” said interim coach Murry Bartow. “We’re into mid-to-late February and we’re starting to figure it out a little bit. I think this team really likes each other, the chemistry’s good, the attitude’s good, the spirit’s great.”

 

Going with the hot hand

 

Hands went into Human Torch-mode with seven 3-pointers and 27 points in the second half against Oregon.

His teammates kept feeding him the ball and – like the 10,000-plus people in attendance at Pauley Pavilion – watched him go to work.

“When (your teammates) know you’re hot, they’re going to look for you and when they do, it’s a great feeling to keep it going,” Bernard said. “When you get that, you have to be smart and take the right shots, know your spots for when to be aggressive.”

For Hands, he scored or assisted on 13 of UCLA’s second-half possessions.

But however hot he gets in a game, there’s one thing he’ll never do – turn his back to celebrate a shot before it goes in.

“I’ve seen that one meme with (former Los Angeles Lakers guard) Nick Young when he did that,” Hands said. “I don’t ever want to look like that, so I probably won’t ever do that.”

 

Women’s golf places fourth in invitational behind career-high performance

The Bruins hosted for the first time this season and recorded a career high in the process.

No. 5 UCLA women’s golf placed fourth with a 39-over 903 at the Bruin Wave Invitational in San Luis Obispo, California. Freshman Phoebe Yue tied for third and had the best finish of her UCLA career with an 8-over 224.

“I wasn’t too worried about when I had a bad shot or bad hole, because my confidence pushed me to bounce back,” Yue said. “Even when I missed a green or a fairway, I was confident that I would be able to make the par, instead of the past few tournaments where I was more nervous. I was really calm and it pushed me to make smarter decisions and slow down a little.”

Improvement in junior Mariel Galdiano’s performance took her from tied for 10th in the first round to finishing tied for third with an 8-over 224.

“She hit the ball a little better today than she has been, she had a few shots yesterday that weren’t solid and (were) hitting a little bit of a fade,” said coach Carrie Forsyth. “Overall, her putting and chipping were pretty solid today.”

Galdiano said she hopes to work on her putting and being able to get up and down more often – instead of having to hit onto the green and then putt – and she’s aiming to get her third shot closer to the hole and make the putt in one.

“(The) weather conditions were rough and their country club plays pretty tough compared to others,” Galdiano said. “I would like to work on my putting overall. I’m struggling a little with that. I also want to get up and down more frequently.”

Junior Clare Legaspi and senior Beth Wu tied for 18th, both shooting 12-over 228. Sophomore Patty Tavatanakit finished in a tie for 39th with 16-over 232.

Forsyth said there are a few things the team as a whole needs to work on moving forward.

“One thing for the group as a whole is wedge game,” Forsyth said. “Pitching, shots from anywhere in 40 to 80 yards, I think we could do a lot better and get shots closer. And, other than that, everyone has individual things to work on.”

The Bruins will continue their season from March 8 to March 10 at the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Baseball outshines CSUN in Northridge, breaking three-year road losing streak

The Bruins are returning to Westwood having won in Northridge for the first time in four years.

No. 4 UCLA baseball (7-1) defeated Cal State Northridge (5-4) with a 4-3 comeback victory Tuesday afternoon, earning its first road win against the Matadors since 2015.

“Northridge is a very difficult place to play,” said coach John Savage. “They’re very well-coached. They have good players. A lot of people have gone in there and lost series, and I’m one of them.”

The Bruins scored the game’s first runs in the third inning when junior outfielder Jeremy Ydens, senior outfielder Jake Pries and junior first baseman Michael Toglia all drew walks to load the bases for freshman center fielder Matt McLain. With two outs, McLain knocked in two runs with a single to left field to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead.

The hit from McLain gave him his team-leading eighth and ninth RBI of the season. The freshman started his collegiate career going 1-for-12 at the plate through his first four games, but has gone 6-for-15 in the four games since. McLain has picked up an RBI in all but one of his appearances, a game in which he went 2-for-5.

“McLain’s going to be a special player, there’s no doubt about that,” Savage said. “He had a big part of today’s win.”

On the mound for UCLA, freshman right-hander Nick Nastrini got his second career start and picked up where he left off in his first. The freshman pitched five scoreless innings, picking up five strikeouts while allowing three hits and two walks.

In his first outing against Loyola Marymount on Feb. 19, Nastrini didn’t give up a run in 4 2/3 innings of work and tallied nine strikeouts with two hits and two walks allowed.

Against CSUN, Nastrini let up a single and a walk – in addition to throwing two wild pitches – in the first inning. On Tuesday, the freshman left two men on base after issuing two walks in the first frame.

“I think it’s just little jitters I have in the first inning,” Nastrini said. “I just need to regroup myself, take a deep breath, and not let myself get to that point in the first place.”

Nastrini went on to retire the next nine batters he faced and gave up two hits for the remainder of the game. Once he left the contest, however, the Matador offense got going.

Sophomore right-hander Michael Townsend came in for relief in the sixth inning, letting up a leadoff single to shortstop Brandon Bohning and walking third baseman Angelo Bortolin. With one out and runners on first and second, freshman right-hander Jack Filby came in the game and allowed four consecutive Matadors to reach base.

Filby gave up two singles – the latter bringing home Bohning – as well as a hit by pitch that allowed the tying run to score. The right-hander surrendered another single to outfielder Andrew Lucas to score the go-ahead run before a 6-4-3 double play ended the inning with the Bruins down 3-2.

UCLA rallied in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game at three. Ydens singled to left center with two outs and then stole second base, allowing junior shortstop Ryan Kreidler to bring him home with a single to center field. The Bruins took the lead for good the following inning.

McLain, like Ydens, singled with two outs and stole second base. CSUN elected to intentionally walk sophomore outfielder Garrett Mitchell to fill the vacant base. During the following at-bat, catcher Sean Skelly attempted to throw him out at second when both runners tried to advance on a ball in the dirt.

The throw by Skelly struck Mitchell and was carried to the outfield, allowing McLain to score the go-ahead run.

“I just saw an opportunity and I took it,” McLain said. “The ball hit (Mitchell) and I got to go home, so I couldn’t have done that part without (Mitchell).”

The Bruins’ bullpen pitched three shutout innings of no-hit baseball to close the game, led by redshirt senior right-hander Nathan Hadley, junior right-hander Kyle Mora and sophomore right-hander Holden Powell, respectively.

UCLA will host Sacramento State for a weekend series starting Friday at 6 p.m.

Men’s golf has strongest tournament of season, still looks to improve

The Bruins had their best team finish of the season.

UCLA men’s golf placed third with a 1-over 865 at the Southwestern Invitational in Westlake Village, California. Freshman Sean Maruyama finished tied for fourth with a 3-under 213 to place seventh overall, while senior Cole Madey tied for 15th and finished as the only Bruin under par Tuesday with 1-under 71.

“Four out of five of us played (at this course) last year so we were able to draw a lot of experience from that,” Madey said. “Pit positions were pretty difficult, the weather was really nice – except it got pretty windy occasionally. I putted really nicely this week, but I need to work on ball-striking and hitting a lot cleaner.”

USC stayed at the top of the leaderboard after each round and finished with a 4-under 860. Its No. 1 player, Justin Suh, finished with a 12-under 204.

“At the end, we let a few (things) slip, it kind of flip-flopped, we lost a couple and gained a couple in the last five holes,” Madey said. “But other than that it was really close and they finished a little stronger than we did.”

Maruyama tied for fourth with 12 birdies and nine bogeys. Coach Derek Freeman said Maruyama’s performance kept the Bruins in the mix.

“I was really excited to see him play well,” Freeman said. “He had a great second round, shot 7-under par yesterday in tough conditions and as a team he kept us in the fight.”

Sophomore Devon Bling finished tied for 10th with an even par 216 and a 1-over 73 in the third round.

“Bling is one of the most talented players that we’ve had at UCLA, but with that he’s still young and has mistakes that have been costly to him and the team,” Freeman said. “We’re trying to get him to understand that he doesn’t have to be as aggressive as he thinks he does, when he goes through his routine the right way he performs better.”

Freeman said sophomore Eddy Lai and Madey had some mistakes as well as solid moments but still have things to clean up. Both players tied for 15th with 2-over 218.

“At times, they did some really great things, they performed well – not great, but well,” Freeman said. “It’s just a few things that we have to clean up and if we can do that then we’ll really start to play well. There’s times where we’re not managing the game correctly. We’ve got the talent and the firepower to be really good, but we just keeping making mistakes.”

The Bruins play next at the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas from March 3 to March 5.

Panel members discuss ongoing experiences recovering from eating disorders

This post was updated Feb. 28 at 3:59 p.m.

Elena Eu said recovery from her eating disorder wasn’t a finish line, but rather an ongoing journey at a panel Tuesday night.

“It wasn’t one day where I woke up, and no more eating disorder,” Eu said. “It was about every day making choices, making a choice if I wanted to continue being disordered or wanting to do something different.”

Eu, a third-year psychology student, spoke alongside five other speakers who shared their experiences of dealing with eating disorders at the “National Eating Disorders Awareness Panel.” The panel focused on diversity, aiming to include individuals who are usually left out of conversations about eating disorders, such as people of color and people who identify as men. The event, hosted by the Body Image Task Force and Project HEAL, a nonprofit that fundraises for individuals who need monetary assistance with recovery, was held in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness week.

Eu said she was diagnosed with anorexia her first year of college. When she told her family about her eating disorder, they told her they thought she could figure it out herself and keep it under control, which she said invalidated her struggles. The desire to show how much pain she was in, rather than to lose weight, became the driving force behind her eating disorder, Eu said.

“I didn’t feel like I had any agency in saying I had an eating disorder until my life was at stake, until it was life-threatening. I think that is so dangerous and that is so frustrating for me now,” Eu said. “Looking back, if I could tell myself freshman year ‘Your pain is seen, you deserve recovery,’ that would have done so much to break the mold of what an eating disorder looks like.”

In her second year of college, Eu received treatment at an inpatient treatment center in Florida, which she said helped her realize she had to prioritize mental health over the academic and social aspects of her life.

Eu said she had originally thought her eating disorder was driven by a desire to be healthy or to look a certain way, but realized it was instead driven by pain and insecurity.

She said this realization led her to perceive recovery not as an end goal to strive for, but as an ongoing journey that required her to make the choice every day to break from or continue her disordered eating habits.

Aida Rodriguez, a comedian and former professional model, said she developed an eating disorder because she felt pressured to be a certain size and weight as a model, but later chose to seek treatment in part because she wanted to be there for her children more than she wanted to continue modeling.

After undergoing treatment and receiving community support, Rodriguez said she learned her disordered eating habits simply reflected her poor self-image.

“I started learning how to properly put things into their proper place. Learning my relationship with food had nothing to do with food and everything to do with how I felt about myself,” Rodriguez said.

She said she had to address her feelings of inadequacy to effectively resolve her eating habits.

“When I started putting those issues together, … I realized I didn’t want to be a model and I also started learning that I am fine the way I am,” Rodriguez said. “My focus became to be healthy as opposed to looking a certain way.”

Rodriguez added that she believes eating disorders are improperly portrayed in the media. She said eating disorders are often seen as posh or related to the fashion industry when, in reality, anyone can suffer from eating disorders regardless of their profession or appearance.

“Eating disorders have a white skinny girl face and it becomes uncomfortable when people look at you because you don’t look like what their idea of eating disorders looks like,” Rodriguez said.

Ryan Sheldon, a blogger and ambassador of the National Eating Disorders Association, said most people could not believe he had an eating disorder because he was male and 6 feet, 4 inches tall.

“I went to Google and looked up ‘men with binge-eating disorder’ and I found nothing,” Sheldon said. “So I looked up ‘men with eating disorder,’ and again I found nothing.”

Sheldon then started a blog and Instagram page to share his experiences with binge-eating. Many people reached out to him about their own eating disorders, which he said is what made posting about his eating disorder worthwhile. He added that people can help destigmatize mental health issues through storytelling.

Sheldon said he had been unable to see anything he liked about his body when asked to stand in front of a mirror by his therapist. However, he learned to appreciate his body through therapy.

He said he used to go down a spiral of feeling worthless whenever he binged. But now, he said, he can leave his feelings at the table with his food when he overeats.

“I’m gonna leave it at the table, meaning, I’m going to leave my feelings about the cheeseburger (I ate) at the table and not carry it throughout the week,” Sheldon said.

The National Eating Disorders Association operates a (800) 931-2237 hotline Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services provides short-term individual therapy, psychiatry, group therapy, planning to help students connect with off-campus services and wellness groups for students seeking eating disorder treatment.

Behind multiple comebacks, UCLA men’s tennis overcomes Grand Canyon

The Bruins’ lineup against the Antelopes didn’t contain any returning players from last year’s starting team.

No. 23 UCLA men’s tennis (5-4) defeated Grand Canyon (6-3) by a score of 4-2 on Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center. Though the Bruins’ starting lineup did boast two nonfreshmen – junior Ben Goldberg and redshirt sophomore Connor Rapp – the two did not regularly participate in last year’s starting squad.

“It was a very big win for us,” said coach Billy Martin. “(It was) the first time in my career that I played with not one returning player from last year’s team in the lineup. I can’t say I felt overly optimistic (going in).”

The Bruins were without senior Maxime Cressy and sophomores Keegan Smith and Connor Hance. Both Smith and Hance were unavailable due to injuries, while Cressy was away competing at the Oracle Challenger Series in Indian Wells, California.

Goldberg and Rapp joined to fill the No. 2 doubles spot. They were defeated by the Antelopes’ Valentin Lang and Jakub Novak by a score of 6-1.

The No. 1 doubles spot for UCLA featured sophomore Bryce Pereira and freshman Patrick Zahraj. After failing to break Grand Canyon’s serve on deuce at 4-4, the Bruins’ own serve was broken and the duo went on to lose the set 6-4. UCLA trailed Grand Canyon 1-0 heading into singles play.

Martin said that as singles play began, it looked as if the Bruins were going to lose the match.

The Bruins on courts No. 4, No. 5 and No. 6 all began their singles matches trailing the Antelopes. Rapp – who filled the No. 6 spot – lost his first set, 6-2, but rallied to take a 3-0 lead in the second.

“In the first set, I couldn’t figure out a game plan to win,” Rapp said. “He was drop shotting me, lobbing me, making me really uncomfortable. (Martin) gave me a simple game plan to follow: I don’t need to hit eight shots side-to-side. Hit one or two big balls, come to the net and finish points early.”

Rapp would emerge victorious from his match by a score of 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Freshman Eric Hahn managed a comeback win of his own on court No. 5. After trailing 5-2 in the first set, Hahn forced a tiebreak at 6-6. After winning the tiebreak, he would go on to win his match 7-6(4), 6-4.

“The first set doesn’t mean a lot in my opinion,” Martin said. “You see a lot of guys amped up and they fly through the first set, but being able to do that over the whole match is difficult.”

Freshman Mathew Tsolakyan was behind 5-3 at No. 4 singles in the first set. Tsolakyan forced a tiebreak at 6-6 and would go on to win the set. Tsolakyan would go on to win his match 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4, clinching the dual match for the Bruins.

“It was crucial for both (Hahn and Tsolakyan) to pull out those sets,” Martin said. “It was starting to look more positive out there and I tried to stay positive myself.”

On court No. 1, Nanda was able to break the serve of GCU’s Lorenzo Fucile on two separate occasions in the first set. Nanda, however, was not able to hold serve himself. After a three set battle, Nanda emerged victorious, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2.

“It was frustrating,” Nanda said. “I didn’t get off to a good start (on my service games), I didn’t make enough first serves and lost a lot of early points. I’m not the biggest guy so it’s tough to get out of those holes.”

Zahraj posted the only singles loss for the Bruins. Playing against Mathieu Rajaonah in the No. 2 spot, Zahraj was defeated 6-2, 7-5.

“(Zahraj) has had a little bit of an issue finishing points,” Martin said. “He’s a young freshman and he’s playing in the No. 2 spot. Some guys are lucky to ever play (at that spot) as a junior or senior, and I’ve got freshmen playing No. 1 and No. 2. I know only good things (are in store) for him.”

The Bruins will continue play at the Pacific Coast Doubles Championship this weekend.