Senior forward Matt Taylor was named National
Player of the Week by Soccer College News after scoring three goals
and notching two assists over the weekend, helping No. 1 UCLA stay
undefeated in Pac-10 play.
Taylor had two goals, including the game winner, and an assist
in a 4-2 win against Cal on Friday. He then followed that
performance by scoring the first goal in the match against Stanford
and then assisting on another in the team’s 3-0 victory over
the Cardinal.
Thus far, Taylor has 29 points (13 goals, 3 assists) in 12
games. He has also tied the school record for multiple goals in a
single game, with four. More impressively, he already has six
game-winning goals on the season, two away from the UCLA
career-best mark.
SOFTBALL: The USA Junior Women’s Softball
team took second at the Softball World Championships in Nanjing,
China.
Team USA lost to Japan 3-2 in Monday’s championship. Japan
also took home the last title in 1999.
Team USA has now faced Japan in five of the seven Softball World
Championship games for the 19-and-under age group in fast pitch
softball.
After losing to Japan 2-1 on Sunday, the U.S. team beat
Australia 7-0 in its first game Monday to reach the finals.
Team USA featured six current UCLA players, Caitlin
Benyi, Jaisa Creps, Lisa Dodd, Andrea Duran, Jodie Legaspi and
Emily Zaplatosch.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL: USC’s
April Ross was named Pac-10 Women’s
Volleyball Player of the Week on Monday.
Ross led the Trojans to wins over No. 7 Stanford and No. 5 Cal
over the weekend, collecting 38 kills, 26 digs, eight blocks and
three aces.
USC has won 30 matches in a row, dating back to last season.
The Trojans are ranked No. 1 in the country, followed in the top
10 by four other Pac-10 teams: No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 California,
No. 9 UCLA and No. 10 Washington.