Sunday Syllabus: the week that was and the week ahead

It’s hard to imagine a better week for a Bruin team than the men’s basketball team had, blowing out Arizona State and Arizona at Pauley Pavilion. But those were only some of the highlights:

Baseball:

>> Last week: If the "experts" are to be believed, UCLA should be pretty good. The Bruins were ranked third in the pre-season Rivals.com poll. In six national pre-season polls, UCLA has been rated 19th, 18th, 17th, seventh, third and first. UCLA’s first game against intercollegiate competition is on February 22.

Football:

>> This week: The signing period for high school players will begin on Wednesday, with UCLA expected to sign an outstanding class of up to 25 players.

Softball:

>> Last week: UCLA was ranked 10th in the nation in the ESPN/USA Softball Pre-Season poll and third in the pre-season poll of Pac-10 coaches. Arizona was ranked tops in both. Senior pitcher Angelica Selden and senior outfielder Krista Colburn, both All-Americans, were named to the Collegiate Player of the Year Pre-Season Watch List by the Amateur Softball Association.

>> This week: The Bruins open their season with the Stacy Wineberg Memorial Tournament at Easton Stadium on campus on Friday, February 8. Nevada, no. 5 Oklahoma, Santa Clara and UC Santa Barbara will all participate and the Bruins will play all of those teams once over the two-day tourney. UCLA will play Oklahoma again on Sunday, February 10.

Men’s Basketball:

>> Last week: The Bruins (20-2 overall, 8-1 Pac-10) completed the first half of their Pac-10 schedule with overwhelming victories against Arizona State on Thursday (84-51) and against Arizona (82-60) on Saturday. In the two games, UCLA shot 57.8% from the field and played stout defense against ASU’s freshman sensation James Harden (9 points) on Thursday and Arizona’s Chase Budinger (also 9) on Saturday. Bruin guard Darren Collison ran his string of consecutive free throws made to 32, setting a school record for consecutive makes in conference games. The old record of 28 was held by Gary Cunningham and set way back in the 1960 season.

>> This week: The second half of the conference schedule begins with a trip to the Washington schools. UCLA will face Washington State on Thursday, February 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Pullman and then travel to Seattle for a Sunday game with the University of Washington at 1:30 p.m.

Men’s Golf:

>> Last week: No. 2 UCLA had some trouble in the first two rounds, but recovered in the third and final round of the Ping/Arizona Intercollegiates to finish third overall. Tennessee and UNLV finished first and second, but a 12-under 275 brought the Bruins up from fifth to third. Senior Kevin Chappell overran the field and won the individual title by seven shots at 15 under par. His 54-hole total of 198 set a school record, one stroke better than Duffy Waldorf’s 199 mark from 1985.

>> This week: UCLA’s next tournament will be on February 11-12 at the Cougar Invitational in Sam Marcos.

Men’s Tennis:

>> Last week: The Bruins had a busy week, finally opening their season against no. 16 Pepperdine on January 29 with a 5-2 win, then traveling to Stanford for a 5-2 win over the Cardinal on Friday. The Saturday match at California was rained out and was re-scheduled for today, starting at 10:30 a.m.

>> This week: No. 9 UCLA plays California in Berkeley today, then comes home to the Los Angeles Tennis Center for matches against the University of San Diego on Wednesday (1:30 p.m.) and Boise State (also 1:30 p.m.).

Men’s Track & Field:

>> Last week: The Bruins went wild in the Washington Indoor Invitational in Seattle, winning three events. John Caulfield had a lifetime best of 63-7 to win the shot put, Boldizar Kocsor won the weight throw with a lifetime best of 69-10 1/4 and freshman Jonathan Clark won the triple jump at 49-7 3/4. Senior Austin Ramos finished second in the 3000 m, but set a school indoor record of 7:55.60, the second-best mark in the nation this year.

>> This week: The Bruins are off until the weekend of February 15-16, when split squads will go to meet in Arkansas and Iowa.

Men’s Volleyball:

>> Last week: That old Al Scates magic is starting to settle in on the Bruins, who compiled two straight wins over quality opponents in four days. UCLA edged the no. 1-ranked NAIA team, Cal Baptist, in five games last Wednesday in Pauley Pavilion, then blitzed ninth-ranked UC Irvine in four sets in Pauley in Friday evening. The Bruins are now on a three-match win streak and have won seven of their last nine matches.

>> This week: The Bruins (8-3 overall, 5-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play) are ranked fourth in the country and will try to avenge one of their defeats this season when they play USC in Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday, starting at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday, UCLA will host no. 2 Pepperdine in the annual Kilgour Cup match, also in Pauley Pavilion.

Men’s Water Polo:

>> Last week: Bruin head coach Adam Krikorian received a two-game suspension from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for "confronting a game official at the official’s hotel" after the November 23 MPSF tournament triple-overtime loss to UC Irvine, 10-9. A report of the suspension in the Daily Bruin indicated that the league and UCLA were in agreement on the penalty.

Women’s Basketball:

>> Last week: UCLA came up empty in the Bay Area and fell to 11-11 on the season and 6-5 in the Pac-10 with losses at no. 9 California (67-53) and no. 7 Stanford (75-62). Freshman Doreena Campbell led the Bruins with 10 against the Bears and senior Lindsey Pluimer had 16 against Stanford.

>> This week: The Bruins are home this week to Washington State on Friday and Washington on Sunday, with both games in Pauley Pavilion. UCLA won both games on the Washington road trip in mid-January.

Women’s Gymnastics:

>> Last week: The Bruins remained undefeated in dual competition this season, flying past Washington in Seattle by a 195.975 to 194.425 count on Friday evening. UCLA swept the top places in the all-around competition with Tasha Schwikert edging Anna Li for the top spot with Brittani McCullough third.

>> This week: UCLA (7-0) heads to Chicago for the IGI Chicago Style Meet against Illinois, Stanford and Washington on Friday, February 8.

Women’s Swimming:

>> Last week: The Bruins (5-3) were overmatched against no. 3 Stanford and no. 5 California over the weekend and lost two dual meets in two days. No. 14 UCLA lost to Stanford, 166-133 on Friday and then fell to Cal, 170-130 on Saturday. Senior Nicoette Teo won the 100 m and 200 m breaststroke events in both meets held on the UCLA campus.

>> This week: The Bruins are off until their dual showdown with USC on February 16 on campus.

Women’s Tennis:

>> Last week: No. 3 UCLA ran its seasonal mark to 3-0 with wins over UC Irvine on Thursday, 5-2, and against 19th-ranked Pepperdine in Malibu, 5-2, on Friday.

>> This week: The Bruins head to Madison, Wisconsin for the USTA/ITA National Team Indoor Championships beginning on Thursday.

Women’s Track & Field:

>> Last week: The Bruins posted no winners at the Washington Invitational, but junior Katy Viuf, competing in just her second pole vault competition ever, cleared 13-1 3/4 for sixth overall and second among collegiate vaulters. Her mark is in the national collegiate top ten.

>> This week: UCLA is off this week and will head to the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas in two weeks.

Women’s Water Polo:

>> Last week: The no. 1-ranked Bruins (5-0) eased past no. 12 Loyola Marymount, 13-5, in Westchester on Saturday. Junior Tanya Gandy led UCLA with three goals in the win.

>> This week: The Bruins will play Hartwick on Tuesday at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center and then travel north for the Stanford Invitational on Saturday and Sunday, February 9-10.