Men’s volleyball sweeps UC Merced series
UCLA 3, UC Merced 0 – April 9
No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball (22-1, 9-1 MPSF) was on the road this week. They traveled to UC Merced (4-15, 1-10 MPSF) to face the Bobcats on Thursday and Friday. The Bruins swept the Bobcats 3-0 on Thursday.
UCLA 3, UC Merced 1 – April 10
The men’s volleyball team (23-1, 10-1 MPSF) returned the next night to play them again, except this time they lost the first set to the Bobcats (4-16, 1-11 MPSF). But that was all the Bobcats would get, UCLA took the next three sets to leave Merced with two wins.
UCLA 3, Menlo 0 – April 12
They (24-1, 11-1 MPSF) then traveled west to Atherton to face Menlo (3-18, 2-10 MPSF) who they also swept, 3-0. They now have two more home games left in the regular season, both against BYU before starting the MPSF tournament.
Baseball stays hot, sweep Rutgers to reach 27 straight
UCLA 7, Cal State Fullerton 3 – April 7
No. 1 UCLA baseball (30-2, 15-0 Big Ten) traveled to Cal State Fullerton (15-16, 9-6 Big West) on Tuesday. With two home runs from junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky, they defeated Cal State Fullerton 7-3.
UCLA 4, Rutgers 1 – April 10
On Friday, the baseball team (31-2, 16-0 Big Ten) played Rutgers (17-16, 5-8 Big Ten) for their first game of the series. It was a late game that went all the way to 14 innings. Rutgers scored in the first inning and UCLA would answer to tie at 1-1. For the next 10 innings neither team scored. Finally, in the 14th inning, UCLA scored three times to win the game, 4-1.
UCLA 7, Rutgers 1 – April 11
Rutgers (17-17, 5-9 Big Ten) would again only score once on Saturday and UCLA (32-2, 17-0 Big Ten) would outscore them, 7-1. The Bruins scored three home runs and Rutgers only scored one. In the fifth inning, the Bruins really pushed ahead and extended their lead when two of the home runs came from back to back batters.
UCLA 9, Rutgers 2 – April 12
UCLA (33-2, 18-0 Big Ten) finished the series 9-2 on Sunday. Rutgers (17-18, 5-10 Big Ten) was able to score twice in the seventh inning but it was too late for them as UCLA was already up by five at that point and continued to add to their score. With the conclusion of this game, they extended their winning streak to 27 and remain undefeated in conference play. Currently it’s the longest active streak in Division 1.
Softball explodes offensively in four-win week
UCLA 13, Cal State Fullerton 11 – April 7
No. 10 UCLA softball (34-5, 13-2 Big Ten) played at Cal State Fullerton (24-12, 13-2 Big West) on Tuesday. The game opened up with a very intense first inning where they both scored six, and the second inning followed with both of them adding another point each. In the third inning Cal State Fullerton got the lead after scoring four to UCLA’s two. But UCLA would score four more times throughout the game and Cal State Fullerton couldn’t. They secured the victory 13-11.
UCLA 17, Illinois 0 – April 10
The Bruins’ softball team (35-5, 14-2 Big Ten) finished Friday with an impressive 17-0 win against Illinois (11-29, 2-10 Big Ten). In the seventh and final inning, the Bruins scored 14 times to end the game. Illinois could not respond and finished scoreless.
UCLA 10, Illinois 1- April 11
On Saturday, the UCLA softball team (36-5, 15-2 Big Ten) scored four home runs against Illinois (11-30, 2-11 Big Ten) to secure the 10-1 victory. In just six innings, the Bruins once again defeated Illinois at their home. The first two innings were quiet but in the third, the Bruins came out scoring six and ultimately defeated Illinois.
UCLA 18, Illinois 0 – April 12
The No. 10 Bruins’ softball team (37-5, 16-2 Big Ten) finished the series sweep against Illinois (11-31, 2-12 Big Ten) with an even crazier victory of 18-0 on Sunday. This time they did it in just five innings. In those five innings, the Bruins managed to score six home runs while the Fighting Illini couldn’t get anything in. They return to play Cal Baptist next on Tuesday, April 14.
Women’s water polo takes third at MPSF
UCLA 20, Indiana 10 – April 10
No. 3 UCLA women’s water polo (19-3) was at Berkeley over the weekend for the MPSF championship. They faced No. 6 Indiana (15-10) on Friday and took their first win of the weekend, 20-10.
UCLA 11, Stanford 12 – April 11
On Saturday, the women’s water polo team (19-4) faced No. 2 Stanford (12-1) and the Cardinals just barely got the win over the Bruins, 12-11. The game went into overtime and concluded in a sudden death period where the winning goal came from a penalty shot.
UCLA 10, Cal Berkeley 9 – April 12
To end the weekend, UCLA women’s water polo (20-4) played Cal Berkeley (14-7) and got the win to finish in third place, 10-9. The Bruins will travel back to Southern California in La Jolla to finish their season at the NCAA championship starting April 24.
Women’s tennis wins pair on the road
UCLA 4, Illinois 0 – April 10
This weekend was the last road trip of the regular season for No. 16 women’s tennis (12-6, 6-4 Big Ten). The Bruins defeated Illinois (9-11, 4-5 Big Ten) on Friday, 4-0, securing the doubles point before winning three singles matches, with Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer clinching the victory in three sets.
UCLA 4, Northwestern 1 – April 12
On Sunday, the UCLA women’s tennis team (13-6, 7-4 Big Ten) rallied from an early deficit to defeat Northwestern (12-10, 4-6 Big Ten), 4-1, completing a road sweep after their win over Illinois. After dropping the doubles point, the Bruins responded with straight-set singles victories from freshman Mayu Crossley, junior Bianca Fernandez and senior Anne-Christine Lutkemeyer, while junior Ahmani Guichard clinched the match in three sets.
Men’s tennis fall to Illinois, bounce back vs. Northwestern
UCLA 2, Illinois 4 – April 11
No. 24 UCLA men’s tennis (13-6, 7-3 Big Ten) also played both Illinois and Northwestern but at home. They were upset by the No. 14 Fighting Illini (20-5, 9-2 Big Ten) 4-2, with Illinois taking the first two and last two points. Redshirt freshman Cassius Chinlund and senior Aadarsh Tripathi picked up singles wins to briefly tie the match, but Illinois secured the victory with three singles wins and the doubles point.
UCLA 4, Northwestern 0 – April 12
The Bruins men’s tennis team (14-6, 8-3 Big Ten) won the last home game of the regular season with a 4-0 win over the Wildcats (15-12, 3-9 Big Ten) on Sunday. The Bruins secured the doubles point before earning singles wins from junior Andy Nguyen, redshirt junior Emon van Loben Sels and Chinlund to complete the sweep. They’ll head north to play Oregon first and then Washington to finish the regular season.
