Defending national champion UCLA back at No. 1 spot in AVCA poll

Riding a seven-match winning streak and seeing former-No. 1 Nebraska fall to Iowa State on Saturday, the Bruins moved back to the top spot in this week’s AVCA Coaches poll.

ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL
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UCLA gained 51 points from last week and had 39 of the 60 first-place votes. The Bruins were ranked as the preseason No. 1 for just the third time in program history. On the last two occasions, UCLA won the national championship in 1990 and finished runner-up in ’92.

The Bruins are one of five Pac-12 teams ranked in the top eight in the nation (No. 2 USC, No. 5 Washington, No. 6 Stanford and No. 8 Oregon).

The Bruins are 2-1 against top 25 teams this season, falling at then-No. 4 Nebraska on Aug. 25, and winning at then-No. 9 Hawai’i on Sept. 9 and then-No. 18 Pepperdine on Sept. 12.

UCLA and USC will meet on Wednesday as the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation for just the second time in the storied rivalry. The only previous matchup was on Oct. 19, 1984 at USC. No. 2 UCLA beat No. 1 USC in five (14-16, 9-15, 15-13, 15-10, 15-4).