UCLA Gymnastics, Men's Volleyball Opt Out of Season Openers Due to COVID-19

The Bruins have now backed out of upwards of a dozen games, meets and matches over the past three weeks as a result of health and safety protocols.

Two Bruin programs have canceled their season openers due to COVID-19.

No. 8 UCLA gymnastics and No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball will not be able to start their seasons on time after COVID-19 issues have stopped both teams from competing in their first meet and matches of the season, respectively. Gymnastics and men’s volleyball join men’s basketball, women’s basketball and football in being unable to compete, with the canceled, delayed or opted out games now reaching 16 with possibly more to come.

Gymnastics was set to travel to Anaheim for the Collegiate Challenge on Jan. 8, where UCLA would face off versus Arizona, Cal and Oregon State, but on Tuesday, the team canceled their appearance. Previously, the Bruins competed in a preseason intrasquad showcase called “Meet the Bruins” at Pauley Pavilion, but COVID-19 had not affected the program to that point.

With men’s volleyball, UCLA was going to compete on Jan. 6 through Jan. 8 in the UC Santa Barbara Asics Invitational, but Thursday night, the Bruins dropped out of the action. The blue and gold would have had matchups versus the host UCSB, UC San Diego and CSUN.

According to UCLA Athletics, the cancelation decisions were made under the guidance of UCLA Sports Medicine.

Gymnastics’ next appearance on their schedule is planned to be Jan. 17, when the Bruins travel to Minnesota to take on the Golden Gophers. Men’s volleyball’s next match is currently scheduled for Jan. 15 against Princeton, which also happens to be the team’s home opener at the John Wooden Center.

The Pac-12 recently released new COVID-19 guidelines in concurrence with the CDC changing guidelines as well. Instead of the previous 10-day isolation period if testing positive, now if vaccinated athletes test positive for COVID-19, they will have to only quarantine for five days instead.

With the protocol changes, UCLA could see their sports programs return sooner than later if they have enough healthy players to compete.

The vaccination status of the roster has not been disclosed by UCLA Athletics, but as employees of the state of California, the coaching staff is required to be vaccinated. UCLA required all students who came on campus for the fall to be vaccinated or submit an opt-out waiver, and boosters will be required when in-person classes begin again in late January.

UCLA only has one program not affected by COVID-19 competing in the current athletic schedule, with the swim and dive team scheduled to face UC San Diego on Jan. 8. Depending on if the game gets canceled due to ongoing issues on the Cardinal's side, UCLA men's basketball's matchup with Stanford on Jan. 6 will be the school’s first return to action for its COVID-19-affected programs.

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