EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Mark Williams
crouches to get under the ball in the Bruins’ game against Santa
Cruz. Men’s Volleyball vs. UCLA vs.
USC Wednesday, March 7 7 p.m. North Gym, USC www.uclabruins.com
By Diamond Leung
Daily Bruin Contributor
The last time the No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball team faced
No. 4 USC, the Bruins cruised to an easy victory. Things might not
come that easy this time around.
The No. 3 Bruins (12-4, 6-2 MPSF) take on the No. 7 Trojans
(11-5, 9-3) tonight in the USC North Gym.
“They’re the hottest team right now in college
volleyball,” junior outside hitter Matt Komer said.
Since the Bruins defeated the Trojans 3-1 Feb. 7 at Pauley
Pavilion, USC has run a six-game winning streak. They chalked up
wins over top-ranked and previously undefeated BYU and No. 6 Long
Beach State ““ teams that have beaten UCLA.
“They’re playing a lot better now than they were
back then,” sophomore outside hitter Cameron Mount said.
The Trojans, led by junior All-American opposite hitter Brook
Billings and senior outside hitter Eli Fairfield, pack a lot of
firepower. The Bruins probably won’t be able to hold Billings
to the .067 hitting percentage as they did last time, but
they’re confident that they can shut down the Trojan
offense.
“We’ve played them once, and we know what to do
against them,” UCLA Head Coach Al Scates said. “I
don’t think they’ll be hitting for the same averages
they’ve been hitting (recently) when we play them.”
UCLA will have to play slightly banged up. Komer and senior Mark
Williams are still not totally recovered from injuries, senior Adam
Naeve is battling the flu, and sophomore Scott Morrow is day-to-day
with a strained hip flexor and stomach muscle.
Bruins are also up against the Trojan home court advantage.
“They’ll have all their support there wasted and
ready to talk trash,” Komer said.
Nevertheless, the Bruins have traditionally done well in the
tiny North Gym, which seats only 1,000 people.
“Their gym actually favors us because we block better than
they do,” Scates said. “There’s not a lot of room
in that gym to run digs down.”
The Bruins are rightly confident going into the matchup.
They’ve won eight of their last nine matches. They’ve
also defeated the Trojans in 14 of their last 15 meetings.
“We know this team pretty well,” Scates said.
“They’re capable of playing good ball, but we do know
their tendencies.”