Women’s water polo begins Triton Invitational against unranked Santa Clara

The Bruins will head south with the opportunity to keep their perfect record intact.

No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (10-0) will visit UC San Diego to compete in the Triton Invitational. UCLA will face Santa Clara (2-2) in its first game Saturday, and will then play either No. 11 UC Davis (4-4) or No. 25 Marist (3-3) later in the day.

With the Bruins playing in four games this weekend, coach Adam Wright said trying to implement his system while maintaining his players’ rest time has been an early lesson for him since he took the job last season.

“It’s a balance,” Wright said. “In the early going, we’re trying to establish how we play defense, attack, counter while we try to create a base of fitness. One of the biggest things for us is getting bodies healthy. So, we have to be careful about how much of a workload we’re putting on them.”

No. 1 USC (8-0) and No. 9 Arizona State (5-2) are both on the other side of the tournament bracket. The Bruins faced both teams in last season’s Triton Invitational. They defeated the Sun Devils 7-6 but fell to the Trojans 6-4.

UCLA went 0-4 overall against USC in Wright’s first season. Junior attacker Maddie Musselman said the Bruins will be concentrating on their next opponent rather than looking ahead to any potential opponents.

“Focusing on us (will be key),” Musselman said. “Sometimes it gets hyped up that we’re playing our rival. We’re the most important (to focus on), us as a team, and if we go outside that, then we’re not going to win. If we do what we’re supposed to, body positioning and focusing on the little details, it’ll be a tight game.”

The Bruins played in their closest game of the season Saturday against then-No. 15 Loyola Marymount (2-2), winning by just one goal. Wright said his team hopefully has learned not to underestimate any game, but this theory will be tested against his team’s first unranked opponent this year.

“Give credit to Loyola for how they came out and played, but from our end, we absolutely didn’t approach that game the right way,” Wright said. “We have Santa Clara in the first game. You can’t approach Santa Clara different than Hawai’i or any other team. And if we do that, then we’re cheating ourselves from getting better.”

The Bruins have allowed at least eight goals in their last five contests after only conceding eight once in their first five. They only allowed up to six goals in the last Triton Invitational.

Junior attacker Emily Skelly said the team is still fine-tuning parts of its defense that will start to shine once the players have mastered Wright’s system.

“I think that we have really just been working on our fundamentals and trying to lock those down,” Skelly said. “If we can do the little details right, a lot will come together. Just trying to nail the small things will help us in the end.”

Women’s basketball travels east for pair of weekend matchups against Colorado, Utah

Michaela Onyenwere said the Bruins’ next matchup will be a rebounding battle.

“(Colorado is) a really good offensive rebounding team,” said the sophomore forward. “(I) know that that’s one of their strengths.”

UCLA women’s basketball (13-9, 6-4 Pac-12) will travel to Colorado (10-11, 0-10) on Friday and No. 17 Utah (18-3, 7-3) on Sunday with the opportunity to extend a four-game win streak.

The Bruins top the Pac-12 in offensive rebounding with 17.9 boards per game. Colorado is second behind UCLA with 14.2.

Onyenwere said the Bruins will have to be aggressive in the paint if they want to dominate the rebounding battle against the Buffaloes.

“(We have to be) thinking ahead and doing early work in the post,” Onyenwere said. “(We’ll) have all five people fighting a body and trying to box out.”

Onyenwere pulls down the second-most rebounds for UCLA, averaging 8.4 per game. The forward is also shooting a team-high 36.1 percent from 3-point range.

The Bruins have shot above 35 percent from beyond the arc in three of their last four games. UCLA went 6-of-9 from deep in its most recent game against Washington, with redshirt freshman guard Lindsey Corsaro hitting 3-of-4 against the Huskies.

“We’re shooting (3s) more in rhythm,” said coach Cori Close. “I think also (Corsaro’s) being more aggressive. She’s a good shooter and we’re really looking for her to do that for us.”

The Buffaloes allow their opponents to shoot 34.8 percent from beyond the arc – the second highest in the conference.

Senior guard Kennedy Burke said UCLA has to control itself when it shoots from deep given the opportunity to take long shots against Colorado.

“The most important thing is to not force to shoot 3s,” Burke said. “We just have to have ball movement and then it will lead to a good shot, like an extra pass to a 3-point shot.”

The Buffaloes – averaging 29.4 percent from deep – have the third lowest 3-point shooting percentage in the Pac-12. Colorado also has the second-worst field goal percentage in the Pac-12 in conference play.

Burke said the Bruins have to play smart defense if they want to prevent the Buffaloes from scoring.

“When a person drives, we all have to have at least some type of help side and we have to scramble back on (defense),” Burke said. “Talking and staying focused on (defense) will help us win the game.”

On Sunday, UCLA will travel to Utah to play at Jon M. Huntsman Center.

The Utes shoot 38.5 percent from deep – the third-highest 3-point shooting percentage in the conference. The 3-pointers account for 32 percent of Utah’s points.

“(We) have to chase them off the 3-point line,” Close said. “We’re going to mix up our defenses and do that in a variety of different ways.”

Utah is coming off a 71-63 loss against Oregon State. The Utes shot 36 percent from behind the arc – 11 percent higher than when the Bruins lost to the Beavers.

Close said UCLA can defeat Utah if it can keep control of the ball.

“We play to our strengths (by) getting more shots on goal than our opponents,” Close said. “We just have to have a really concerted effort to value the ball.”

Utah matchup offers men’s basketball chance to move up in conference standings

The Bruins need a win.

UCLA men’s basketball (12-11, 5-5 Pac-12) is on the cusp of its second three-game losing skid since the start of conference play and will face Utah (12-10, 6-4) at Pauley Pavilion on Saturday. The Bruins are at risk of slipping below .500 in Pac-12 competition for the first time since the end of the 2015-2016 season.

The Bruins and Utes met twice last season with the home team winning each contest. Since Utah joined the conference in 2011, UCLA has won six of the 10 total meetings between the schools and has not lost to the Utes at Pauley Pavilion since February 2016.

However, Utah owns a 4-1 record away from home in Pac-12 play, including wins at Arizona and Arizona State. It is also tied for the second spot with Arizona State, Oregon State and USC.

UCLA, on the other hand, has dropped down into a tie for sixth place with Oregon following back-to-back losses to Washington and Colorado.

The Buffaloes torched the Bruins’ zone defense Wednesday night by knocking down 13 of their 24 attempts from beyond the arc, despite entering the game as the worst 3-point shooting team in the Pac-12.

Interim coach Murry Bartow, who defended his decision to remain in the zone defense Wednesday night despite Colorado’s success from the outside, did not comment on whether he would deploy the same defensive strategy Saturday.

Utah boasts the highest 3-point percentage in the conference at 37.6 and has five different players who have attempted at least 50 3s and who shoot better than 35 percent, while the Bruins have just one – redshirt junior guard Prince Ali.

Utah guard Sedrick Barefield leads the Pac-12 in 3-pointers made and attempted this season. He is hoisting up 7.5 shots from deep a night and is connecting on an average of three per contest.

Outside of its success from beyond the 3-point line, however, Utah’s offense ranks among the middle of the conference in scoring.

UCLA – which owns the second-ranked offense in the Pac-12 – also has a significant rebounding advantage over Utah. The Bruins are averaging nearly six more rebounds per game and will need to win that area of the game in order to keep the Utes from getting second-chance opportunities, given their array of outside shooters.

With a win, UCLA could put itself back in the mix for a top-four spot in the conference standings. A loss, though, would send them further toward the bottom of the Pac-12 with just a handful of games remaining in the regular season.

Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

Gymnastics to face Washington on Sunday fresh off Oregon State win

Valorie Kondos Field said she has complete trust in her team.

“This year we’ve trusted that they’re living as champions and making choices of champions, even on their days off,” the coach said. “I think we’re seeing the results of that in competitions.”

After recording its highest score – yet its narrowest win – of the season against No. 11 Oregon State (1-2, 1-2 Pac-12), No. 3 UCLA gymnastics (4-0, 3-0) will face No. 15 Washington (2-2, 2-1) in Seattle on Sunday.

Washington has faced No. 25 Arizona, No. 24 Stanford, No. 16 Nebraska and Oregon State so far this season, defeating the Wildcats and the Cardinal. Of those opponents, the Bruins have notched wins over all of them except for the Wildcats, who UCLA has yet to face. Washington’s highest score of the season is a 196.525 compared to UCLA’s 197.900.

“Our goal for this past meet at Oregon (State) was just to go big, so I think a lot of mistakes happened by (doing that),” said sophomore Kendal Poston. “(However), those are good mistakes and now that we’ve got that out of the way we can dial it back in and focus on better landings (and) cleaner skills.”

Kondos Field said she is still waiting for UCLA to reach the goal she set last week – posting a perfect 10 in every event.

“I think (it is) a fun challenge for them to strive for even though it’s contrary to how we compete,” Kondos Field said. “(But) we tell them, ‘Don’t strive for perfection because it doesn’t exist, strive for excellence and the illusion of perfection,’ and I think that’ll be really fun if we can get that accomplished.”

Junior Kyla Ross garnered another perfect 10 for the Bruins on uneven bars Saturday. Junior Madison Kocian and sophomore Nia Dennis were just shy of perfect scores, with a 9.975 apiece on uneven bars and balance beam, respectively.

Midway through the season, UCLA has amassed more attention from the public and will face tougher competition in upcoming meets. However, the athletes hone in on a precedent they set at the beginning of the season: having fun.

“(We try) to focus on having fun because as soon as you overthink, you feel the pressure and you get stressed,” said sophomore Pauline Tratz. “(We) just focus on something different because we’ve done this so many times and we know that it’s in us.”

The third consecutive away meet also marks the homecoming of Seattle-native senior Katelyn Ohashi.

Ohashi is expected to be back in the floor lineup against Washington, and Tratz said she anticipates that her presence will draw in a crowd.

“I’m excited,” Tratz said. “(Ohashi) became a rival (when she came to UCLA) so I hope there will be a lot of fans, and we just show the crowd how we perform.”

Men’s volleyball drags Stanford match to five sets, takes season’s first MPSF win

The Bruins opened conference play with a win in their first five-set match of the year.

No. 4 UCLA (9-2, 1-0 MPSF) defeated No. 9 Stanford (7-4, 0-1) in its first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matchup of the year Thursday night at Pauley Pavilion by a score of 3-2.

The Bruins were without senior outside hitter Dylan Missry, redshirt junior opposite Brandon Rattray and redshirt freshman setter Adam Parks, all scratched from the lineup due to injury.

The trio, which had accounted for 211 of the team’s 464 kills this season entering Thursday, was replaced by a combination of sophomore middle blocker Grant Maleski, redshirt freshman middle blocker J.R. Norris, redshirt sophomore outside hitter Sam Kobrine and redshirt junior middle blocker Matt Younggren.

Maleski, Norris, Kobrine and Younggren combined for 68 kills through the first 10 games of the season and tallied nearly half that total Thursday, with 25.

Junior middle blocker Daenan Gyimah added 25 kills of his own – the most by a Bruin in a single match this season.

Gyimah said the foursome was ready to fill in as a result of the team’s readiness to improvise.

“Huge, they’re just huge,” Gyimah said. “Everyone has to step up to the plate when some guys are out and (Maleski, Norris, Kobrine and Younggren) did it in a big way. They’re always grinding, training in the gym long hours, it’s nice to see them shine.”

Gyimah said he and senior setter Micah Ma’a changed the Bruins’ game plan after the Cardinal took the first set by a score of 25-21. The change in approach paid dividends for Gyimah, who had 22 kills over the next four sets.

“There were two points late in the first set that I was so open and (Ma’a) set the right side,” Gyimah said. “I told (Ma’a), ‘Let me be the reason why we lose.’ From then on, he just kept on setting me.”

UCLA and Stanford traded set wins through the first four sets, with the Cardinal taking the first and third sets and the Bruins winning the second and fourth.

The Bruins lost the first set after hitting for a single-set low of .000 and tallying 11 attacking errors.

UCLA coach John Speraw said Stanford’s height was difficult to counter in the earlier stages of the match.

“They’re big,” Speraw said. “(Opposite hitter) Jaylen Jasper is a big presence, I think. We can’t replicate that in the gym. So, sometimes when we get in these matches where the opponents present a problem that you can’t replicate in the gym, it takes a little while to adapt.”

Ma’a said Stanford’s height also posed an issue for UCLA’s offense.

“They’re just a pretty big block and they’re really disciplined,” Ma’a said. “They get over quick and they get over pretty big, so I think it was just an adjustment process.”

Stanford set a team season-high in team blocks with 17.0, the most tallied by a UCLA opponent since Long Beach State’s 11.5 earlier in the season.

Gyimah said the Bruins were not concerned with the score 23-21 in the fourth set, when the Cardinal were two points away from winning the match.

“Our philosophy is always just play point-for-point,” Gyimah said. “The second that the last ball dropped in the fourth set, everyone was like, ‘First point, first point of the next set.’ That’s all we were focused on.”

Gyimah would go on to tally four more kills as UCLA won the fifth and final set 15-10 to claim the match.

UCLA will face No. 7 BYU at home at the John Wooden Center on Saturday.

UCLA study on worms lends insight into decision-making by people

Studying neural circuits in worms might give researchers insight into human decision-making, according to a paper published by UCLA researchers.

Researchers in the lab of Elissa Hallem, a UCLA professor of microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics, published a study in January on how chemical signaling molecules affect how worms behave when they are hungry. They found that two different sets of neurons affect a worm’s response to carbon dioxide, depending on how hungry the worm is.

Hallem said this finding might give insight into why organisms can have differing responses to the same stimulus or event.

“In humans, food smells really delicious when you’re hungry, but not so much when you’re full,” she said.

Well-fed worms generally avoid carbon dioxide, but hungry worms tend to move toward carbon dioxide, said Kristen Yankura, a former postdoctoral scholar in the Hallem lab and author on the study.

“Something in their worm brain switches so they find something previously unfavorable as attractive,” she said.

Carbon dioxide is an ambiguous signal to worms, Hallem said. Both predators and prey of worms give off carbon dioxide, so hungry worms move toward carbon dioxide in search of food, but full worms avoid carbon dioxide in fear of danger.

To understand why hungry and full worms reacted differently to carbon dioxide, the researchers used genetic techniques to identify which set of neurons were activated in each worm. They identified two sets of neurons, the RIG and AIY neurons, that are responsible for the response to carbon dioxide, said Sophie Rengarajan, a UCLA medical and doctoral student and lead author on the study.

RIG neurons are more active in well-fed worms and encourage carbon dioxide avoidance, while AIY neurons are more active in hungry worms and encourage carbon dioxide attraction, she added.

The activity of each set of neurons also changed in response to signaling chemicals called neurotransmitters, according to the study. In hungry worms, the neurotransmitter octopamine promoted carbon dioxide attraction by activating the AIY neurons.

In full worms, the neurotransmitter dopamine activated RIG neurons to promote carbon dioxide avoidance. Dopamine also appeared to suppress the activity of AIY neurons to discourage carbon dioxide attraction, according to the study.

In humans, dopamine is traditionally seen as a signaling molecule related to pleasure or satisfaction, but it also promotes risk-taking behavior, Rengarajan said.

In worms, however, dopamine promotes more cautious behavior, such as deciding to avoid carbon dioxide and potential predators, Rengarajan said. While dopamine has different effects in different organisms, these observations highlight the need to understand how chemical signaling molecules prime neural circuits to promote different behaviors, she added.

The worms used in this study are nonparasitic worms, Hallem said. She said her lab started to look at similar neural pathways in parasitic worms to understand what chemical or neural differences govern their parasitic behavior.

“All the neurons (we studied here) are presumably present in parasitic worms, but their behavior is very different,” Hallem said.

USAC recap – Feb. 5

The Undergraduate Students Association Council is the official student government representing the undergraduate student body at UCLA. Council meetings take place every Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Bruin Viewpoint Room and are open to all students. Watch a livestream of the meetings on the USAC Live! channel on YouTube.

Public Comment:

  • Several student organizations asked the council to allocate surplus funding to their events and programs and asked questions about the application for surplus funding.

Special Presentations:

  • A UCPD representative said UCPD is preparing for the University of California Board of Regents meeting that will take place on campus March 12. He added the UCPD is working with the dean of students’ office and the UCLA LGBT Center staff following a hate crime that occurred Jan. 31.

Agenda:

  • The council allocated a total of $13,760 from the contingency programming fund to USAC and non-USAC groups.
  • The council approved a resolution to officially recognize Bruins of Freedom Summer for volunteering in the Freedom Summer Project of 1964, which was dedicated to increasing African-American voter turnout. The resolution was to formally acknowledge members for their service.
  • The council approved a bylaw change that added the USAC president, the Academic Affairs commissioner and a representative from the Graduate Students Association as voting members on the Campus Safety Alliance.
  • The council approved a bylaw change that housed the True Bruins RAISE award and its accompanying ceremony under the internal vice president’s office. The True Bruin RAISE project was established by the USAC internal vice president’s office and the Office of the Dean of Students to award money to students who have helped other students.
  • The council approved a bylaw change that listed the types of documents that council members must produce to help their successors transition into their new positions.

Reports:

  • USAC President Claire Fieldman said her office is hosting a women’s leadership conference March 3 in the Ackerman Grand Ballroom. She added the South Campus Research Fair will take place Feb. 25 in the Bruin Reception Room
  • Internal Vice President Robert Blake Watson said his office received over 30 applications for the RAISE scholarship and will work with the dean of students’ office to select 10 winners.
  • External Vice President Jamie Kennerk said her office met with the UC Office of the President to discuss legal services and health services for undocumented students.
  • General Representative 2 Bella Martin said her office is concluding a campaign to include textbook prices in enrollment descriptions. Martin also added the UCLA Interfraternity Council added a bylaw clause to replace safety officers guarding stair entrances to personal rooms with fraternity members equipped with breathalyzers.
  • A proxy for Transfer Student Representative Jessica Kim said Kerckhoff Coffee House wants to host more student programming and encouraged students to book the space through Associated Students UCLA event services.
  • Academic Affairs Commissioner Nidirah Stephens said her office created the For the People Scholarship Foundation and is now fundraising for the scholarship. She added the scholarship is meant to help students meet academic needs that have not been met through other funds.
  • The Campus Events Commission screened a sneak peak of “Happy Death Day 2U” on Thursday at the James Bridges Theater. She added her office will screen “Burning” on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in the James Bridges Theater. Commisioner Alley Madison added her office will host a Summer Walker performance Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Kerckhoff Charles E. Young Grand Salon.
  • Community Service Commissioner Bethanie Atinuke Sonola said the application for the Robert S. Michaels Leadership in Service Award is now open. The scholarship is meant to recognize undergraduate students for their leadership in community service.
  • The Cultral Affairs Commissioner hosted a a hip-hop appreciation month film screening Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in the Northwest Campus Auditorium. Commissioner Sarena Khasawneh added there will be a hip-hop appreciation panel Feb. 19, featuring visiting speakers from the music industry.
  • Student Wellness Commissioner George Louis Faour said registration is open for Bruin Run/Walk, which will take place Apr. 27 at Wilson Plaza. He also added there are openings for CPR classes Friday which will cost $10 for students and $15 for community members.