The Rundown: Jan. 31
Sophomore Evan Zhu was awarded Pac-12 Player of the Week honors following his performance at the ITA Kick-Off weekend, in which UCLA won both its matchups. (Keila Mayberry/Daily Bruin staff)
Men’s tennis
Melissa Zhang, assistant Sports editor
Sophomore Evan Zhu earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors Tuesday for his dominant performance in both singles and doubles during the ITA Kick-Off Weekend.
Zhu clinched No. 6 UCLA’s (6-0) spot in the ITA National Men’s Team Indoor Championship with his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Utah State’s Sergiu Bucur at third singles Sunday. The sophomore also took down Loyola Marymount’s Lukas Moenter on Tuesday at second singles, and came up with three wins at first doubles with partner senior Martin Redlicki.
The reigning Pac-12 Doubles Team of the Year defeated Charles Boyce-Moenter of Loyola Marymount (6-3), David Goulak-Tommy Lam of UC Davis (6-3) and Jaime Barajas-Jose Carvajal of Utah State (6-2).
This is the second time the sophomore has received the honor. UCLA travels north to take on Stanford this weekend.
Men’s volleyball
Melissa Zhang, assistant Sports editor
The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation gave Player of the Week recognitions to two Bruins on Monday.
Junior setter Micah Ma’a and sophomore middle blocker Daenan Gyimah won Offensive Player of the Week and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, for their contributions to No. 2 UCLA’s (8-1) victory over No. 3 Hawai’i (7-1) on Sunday.
Ma’a collected 46 assists and six digs, while setting his hitters with a .396 hitting percentage. With Sunday’s win and his six aces, the junior moved into third place on the all-time school list for service aces with 101 total.
Gyimah logged a career-best nine block assists and a team-best nine kills in Friday’s loss to the Rainbow Warriors. This is the sophomore’s second consecutive week earning Player of the Week honors.
The Bruins host unranked Princeton on Thursday in the John Wooden Center.
Women’s basketball
Ryan Smith, assistant Sports editor
After leading No. 9 UCLA women’s basketball (17-4, 8-2 Pac-12) to its second consecutive road sweep over the weekend, senior guard Jordin Canada earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.
In the two victories over Washington and Washington State this past weekend, Canada averaged just over 20 points per game on 51.7 percent shooting. She also added 4.5 rebounds while dishing out four assists per contest.
This is the second time this season Canada has earned the honor, and her third overall.
On Monday afternoon, it was also announced that the senior had been named to the watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award – given to the best point guard in the country at the end of the season.
Canada is top-10 in the Pac-12 in scoring and passing this season, averaging 15.6 points and 6.3 assists per game. If she went on to win the award, she would be the first Bruin to do so in the award’s 19-year history.
Gymnastics
Kelsey Angus, assistant Sports editor
No. 4 UCLA gymnastics took home two of the three Pac-12 weekly honors this week after a team season-high 197.625 that won the Metroplex Challenge on Saturday.
Sophomore Kyla Ross was named the Pac-12 Gymnast of the Week for her career-high 39.7, which won her the all-around. She also won vault with a career-high tying 9.925 and posted a 9.925 on uneven bars to tie for first in the event.
Redshirt senior Peng-Peng Lee received her third Pac-12 Specialist of the Week accolade this season and her seventh of her career. Lee scored her second 10.0 on balance beam and fourth perfect score overall in her career. Lee’s season average of 9.925 on the event is currently the best in the nation.
