Sunday syllabus: the week that was and the week ahead

A nice weekend for the Bruin basketball teams and a great win for the men’s volleyball team against No. 2 Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday were the highlights of a busy week:

Baseball:

>> Last week: The Bruins were listed as No. 17 in the preseason coaches poll. UCLA was ranked No. 1 by Baseball America and No. 7 by Perfect Game Crosschecker.

>> This week: The annual Alumni Game was moved to Feb. 16 at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The heavy rains, coupled with the renovation of the field, will make play Feb. 2 too difficult.

Football:

>> Last week: Legendary offensive coordinator Norm Chow agreed to join Rick Neuheisel’s staff Monday, former Bruin strength and conditioning coach Mike Linn agreed to return Tuesday and former Bruin running backs coach Wayne Moses came aboard Wednesday. Former Bruin head coach Karl Dorrell was hired as the wide receivers coach of the Miami Dolphins.

>> This week: Recruiting is the name of the game this week as the signing period begins Wednesday, Feb. 6. Word is that Neuheisel has been in more homes than a Century 21 agent, many of them for prospects not already committed to UCLA.

Tennis:

>> Last week: The men’s-women’s doubleheader scheduled for last Friday was rained out. The Bruin men were supposed to face BYU and the women were scheduled to play No. 13 Baylor. The women’s match will be played Feb. 26, but there has been no announcement on whether the UCLA-BYU men’s match will be played.

>> This week: The Bruin men will be busy, playing Pepperdine on Monday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center (weather permitting) and then heading to the Bay Area for matches against Stanford on Friday and California on Saturday. The women (1-0), ranked third in the nation, will take on Irvine at the LATC on Thursday and then head to Malibu to play Pepperdine on Friday.

Men’s Basketball:

>> Last week: Brilliant weekends by both Kevin Love and Darren Collison highlighted No. 7 UCLA’s two wins at Oregon and Oregon State. Playing in noisy McArthur Court in Eugene on Thursday, Collison had a career high of 22 and Love had 26 points and 18 rebounds as the Bruins pulled out an 80-75 win with a late rally. On Saturday in Corvallis, Collison had another career high with 33 points and Love added 16 and a career-best 21 rebounds as UCLA ran away from the Beavers, 85-62.

>> This week: The Bruins are 18-2 overall and 6-1 in Pac-10 play and are in first place by a game over Stanford and Washington State. Much-improved Arizona State (14-5, 4-3) comes to Pauley Pavilion on Thursday for a 7:30 p.m. game and Arizona (14-6, 4-3) invades on Saturday at 6 p.m.

Men’s Soccer:

>> Last week: Senior defenders Brandon Owens and Greg Folk were selected in the MLS Supplemental Draft. Owens was the 10th pick in the first round and went to DC United while Folk was chosen by the Los Angeles Galaxy with the fourth pick of the third round. That brings the total number of UCLA players selected by MLS teams to five.

Men’s Volleyball:

>> Last week: The fifth-ranked Bruins won a major victory Saturday, defeating No. 2 Pepperdine in Malibu for the first time since 2004, in five games, 21-30, 30-20, 27-30, 30-28 and 15-12. The win improved UCLA’s record to 6-3 overall and 4-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. UCLA dropped a five-set match to USC at the Galen Center on Wednesday.

>> This week: The Bruins have two matches this week, both at Pauley Pavilion. UCLA will face Cal Baptist in a non-conference match on Wednesday, then host UC Irvine on Friday.

Women’s Basketball:

>> Last week: Kathy Olivier’s young team improved to 6-3 in Pac-10 play with two wins over the Oregon schools in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA rebounded from a 49-35 deficit with 10:10 to go to outscore Oregon, 19-2, late in the second half and held on for a 63-59 win Thursday. The same thing happened Saturday as a 12-0 run in the second half helped UCLA defeat Oregon State, 74-70. Senior Lindsey Pluimer had 19 points for the Bruins in each game and junior Tierra Henderson had a career-high 16 against the Beavers.

>> This week: UCLA (11-9 overall) heads to the Bay Area for two difficult games against national powers No. 8 California, on Thursday at 7 p.m., and No. 7 Stanford, at Maples Pavilion on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Women’s Golf:

>> Last week: Bruin All-American Tiffany Joh was selected to play for the U.S. team in the Curtis Cup against a British-Irish amateur team on May 30-June 1 at The Old Course in St. Andrews, Scotland. She’s the first Bruin in 20 years to be selected to play in the Curtis Cup.

Women’s Gymnastics:

>> This week: The No. 8 Bruins (5-0) host No. 9 Stanford (1-1) today at 2 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion in the annual John Wooden Challenge, then head to Seattle to face Washington on Friday evening.

Women’s Soccer:

>> Last week: UCLA head Coach Jillian Ellis was named as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women’s National Team. She will remain as the Bruin coach, but will no longer be responsible for the U.S. Under-20 squad, which she had been coaching.

Women’s Water Polo:

>> Last week: The top-ranked Bruins began their season Saturday, crushing No. 11 Arizona State and then No. 8 UC San Diego by identical 14-5 scores. Junior Katie Rulon had four goals in each game to lead UCLA in scoring.

>> This week: UCLA continues play in Michigan today against Colorado State and Indiana. The Bruins will return home and take a short trip Saturday to play Loyola Marymount.

Lindsey Pluimer photo courtesy UCLA.

Comments

[Bob]

Any update on the gymnast that was hurt on the floor exercise on Sunday?

[Chasman]

According to today's Daily Bruin story, http://dailybruin.com/news/2008/jan/28/gymnasts-win-despite-injury/,
"junior Kristina Comforte took a hard fall during the opening of her floor exercise routine. She had to be carried off the court.....Comforte, who injured her right knee, is expected to have a MRI on Monday morning to evaluate the severity of the injury."