Bruin Bites: Jordin Canada on top 20 Wooden Award List

Hi everybody! Wow, I'm a terrible planner and always seem to bite off more than I can chew :(

So, today we get a Bruin Bites, Night Cap Edition. Let's jump in. Ladies first :)

Women's Basketball

Sophmore Guard Jordin Canada was one of the top 20 Women's Basketball student-atheletes listed on the Wooden Award watch list. Though she did not appear on the preseason top 30 list, her hard work in the classroom and on the court has paid off as her efforts are being recognized on the late season list.

The entire team had a succesfull week beating both the Washinton schools at home, topping Washington State 73-61 and Washington 63-59. I caught most of the Washington game and boy did it look like the Bruins were in trouble early. They slowly dug themselves out of a 15 point hole to be only down by 1 at halftime. From there it was a tight match with the Bruins coming out on top in the end. Way to go!

Women's Gymnastics

Women's Gymnastics is a lot of fun to watch. I do not pretend to know anything technical about the sport, but I do recognize that the floor routines are just fun to watch. Well, this is from last week, but it's so good I want to share it again. Check out Sophia DeJesus's floor routine:

This video went viral and had plenty of viewers. I personally like the camio of Danusia Francis at the end. Sophia even went on the Ellen DeGeneres show and performed with her teammates cheering her on in the audience. I firmly believe that the floor routine is what elevated the Bruins above powerhouse rival Utah.

Last week, the Bruinettes' were back in action and cruised to an easy victory over Oregon State, 196.225-197.475. Bonus: if you click on the link you get to see more videos!

Next up is Washington next Saturday at 1 pm so hopefully you can catch the magic live.

Women's Softball

Don't forget to check out Bruinette88's always excellent coverage of the Softball team (here and here). The Bruins are fielding a top 10 team and they generally did well this weekend in College Station, Texas. They won both their contests against Colorado State, 6-5 and 8-3, as well their lone game against Wichita State, 6-5. Against the home team, the #24 Texas A&M Aggies, the Bruins lost the first match 1-5 but won the second 7-3. Overall, I'd say it was a successfulweekend as the official recap shows.

Women's Waterpolo

I hope the top ranked UCLA Women's Waterpolo team forgives me for not leading with them, but I'll justify it for not beating our hated rivals in *$uc. They lady Bruins fell to the #2 Trogans 6-8 at the Triton Invite giving them their first and only loss of the season. Otherwise, they had a successful weekend demoralizing Sonoma State, 17-1, and comfortably beating #17 Loyola Marymount 14-7. They now sit at 7-1.

Women's Tennis

Last, but certainly not least, is the #21 UCLA Women's Tennis team which hosted UC Davis and Cal State, Northridge. The Bruins made quick work of their opponents blanking the UC Davis Aggies, 4-0, and CSUN 4-1. They host #17 Pepperdine tonight.

Now, let's see how the men did.

Men's Volleyball

Last week the previously #1 (now #3) Men's Volleyball team fell in a tough 5-set match to rival #11 UCI at home in Pauley Pavilion. They rebounded well against UCSD by winning in straight sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-18). Tomorrow the Bruins make the long trek to play at #8 Pepperdine--should be a good one.

Men's Tennis

The #9 Men's Tennis team rallied back from a 3-2 deficit to beat #11 Georgia 4-3 in the 2016 ITA Division I National Men's Team Indoor Championship in Charlottesville, Va. Then upset #3 Texas A&M, 4-2, with a "rollercoaster match" according to UCLA head coach Billy Martin that was much closer than the final score indicates. Sadly, the momentum ran out when they lost in the semis to the #7 North Carolina Tar Heels, 2-4.

Track & Field

Track and Field team visited Seattle last weekend to compete in the Husky Classic. A couple Bruins had personal bests and the team of Sahm Bazargan, Joe Herrera, Arturo Sotomayor and Nolan Dickson won the Distance Medley Relay with a time of 9:48.92.

Football

Because we should always have a little football news, Jack Wang notes that 9 UCLA players will be at the NFL Scouting Combine headlined, of course, by Myles Jack. Interestingly, only Notre Dame and Ohio State have more representatives (e.g. I'd expect Alabama and LSU to have much more on any given year). Yes, that means we've had good talent at UCLA and, yes, underperformed with said talent. But, let's all have a toke of the "hopium" that the Alford supporters (where'd they go anyway?) seem to fill their lungs with.

I hope that you enjoyed today's tonight's Bruin Bites as we ease closer to the weekend!

Go Bruins!!!