Wednesday, January 29, 1997
M. VOLLEYBALL:
Nguyen, an ’emotional spark plug,’ may start at swing hitterBy
Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Contributor
The smallest player on the court for UCLA will play the most
important role for the Bruins tonight  emotional spark
plug.
The UCLA men’s volleyball team begins league play today against
California State University, Northridge, and 5-foot, 10-inch senior
back-row specialist Trong Nguyen may get to start at swing
hitter.
"Trong always seems to fire the team up," UCLA Head Coach Al
Scates said. "It’s a pretty quiet team. Stein Metzger was verbal
and excitable last year and Trong is like that.
"We just seem to play better when he is in the lineup."
Although Northridge (4-1 overall, 1-1 in the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation) has gotten off to a hot start, the Bruins (1-1,
0-0) may not need much of a spark to win. UCLA has dominated the
series  losing only twice in 31 matches. The victories
against Northridge include a three-set sweep during last year’s
championship season.
UCLA’s home court dominance can partly account for the large gap
in wins between the two teams in this series. The Bruins will host
the match at Pauley Pavilion, and Scates believes that that gives
UCLA an advantage.
"Playing at Pauley is pretty intimidating to other teams because
it is such a large arena," Scates said.
Two players who will be factors in the match for Northridge are
Collin Smith and Chad Strickland, who average 6.3 and 5.5 kills per
game, respectively.
These two lead the MPSF in hitting. UCLA must contain them to
beat Northridge before its showdown against UC Santa Barbara on
Friday.
But Scates is not looking ahead. He knows that the team gained
some momentum at the tournament in Hawaii last weekend.
Scates will play only the starters for much of the match Â
a vast change in philosophy compared with last weekend where all 12
players received some action.
One of those starters is the smallest of all the Bruins.
The game is free to all students with a student ID and
registration card.
Daily Bruin File Photo
Volleyball star Trong Nguyen.
"Trong (Nguyen) always seems to fire the team up."
Head Coach Al Scates