LOS ANGELES – The No. 12 UCLA women’s volleyball team begins its 2022 season with two matches at the Utah State Invitational this Friday and Saturday, hosted in the Wayne Estes Center in Logan, Utah. The Bruins open the year against Utah State on Friday, Aug. 26 at 6 p.m. PT and cap their first weekend of competition with a neutral site contest versus Cal Poly on Saturday, Aug. 27 at 9 a.m.
Both matches are available for streaming on the Mountain West Network.
UCLA in Season Openers
The Bruins are 49-3 all-time in season openers, with their last loss coming against No. 20 Baylor in 2019. UCLA’s other two season-opening losses were to No. 14 Hawai’i in 1998 (0-3) and No. 25 Louisville in 1996 (1-3). The Bruins won last season’s opening match at UC Davis, 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 27-25, 25-21), after three double-digit kill performances from Mac May (12), Anna Dodson (12) and élan McCall (12). Shelby Martin led with 46 assists.
Preseason Rankings
UCLA enters the season ranked No. 12 in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) preseason poll. This is UCLA’s 553rd week ranked in the AVCA poll dating back to 1982, which ranks third most all-time behind Nebraska (587) and Stanford (563). Additionally, this is UCLA’s highest AVCA preseason poll ranking since 2018 when it was slotted No. 11. UCLA, coming off its highest conference finish (2nd) since 2016, was tabbed to finish third and received one first-place vote in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll.
Bruins to Watch
Sophomore outside hitter Charitie Luper and graduate transfer middle blocker Lauren Forte (Florida) were named to the 2022 All-Pac-12 Preseason Team. Luper was a four-time Pac-12 Freshman of the Week last season, ranking second on the squad with 227 kills despite playing in only 18 of UCLA’s 31 matches. Luper’s 3.39 kills per set were second only to Mac May (4.85 KPS). The duo led all Pac-12 scoring tandems through October of conference play with a combined 388 kills and 480 points prior to Luper’s injury. Forte transfers into Westwood from Florida after a pair of All-SEC and AVCA All-American honors. In her two seasons as a Gator, Forte averaged 1.02 blocks per set (147.0 total blocks) and 2.06 kills per set at a .422 hitting percentage.
Who’s Back?
In addition to returning Luper, UCLA brings back All-Pac-12 Team middle blocker
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