The stands rumbled with the usual cacophony of voices humming,
the ache of the benches and the dull thunder of footsteps rapidly
ascending into the rows.
It’s Friday evening at the John Wooden Center. The
volleyball nets are set up, adjusted, approved and then, forgotten;
there were no real dividing lines in this game.
The dimmed uproar from the fans, too, mingled between sides.
There was no dichotomy among the supporters really. Everyone had
come to watch the Bruins play.
One father eyed the court, regarding one athlete admiringly,
noting, “That’s my son over there. You’ll see him
play.”
The alumni game is a UCLA tradition ““ the current
men’s volleyball team vs. Bruin alumni. It resulted in a win
for the current team, 142″“140, an intense show of the
team’s promise.
With UCLA matched up against players like Stein Metzger, Mike
Diehl, and last year’s team captain Matt Komer, the challenge
of playing was beyond enticing.
“Those guys are All”“Americans and professional
players with all these accolades to them,” sophomore Gray
Garrett said. “There’s a different feel to this than
other games.”
A new experimental scoring system of featured four 35-point
quarters and a free substitution policy let coaches exchange
players at will.
The alumni, uniform only in shirts and sheer athleticism, got
into position. They matched the young Bruins point-for-point in the
first quarter. But the rallies heated up and the ball pounded past
the air from player to player.
Junior Chris Peña was what coach Al Scates called
“the MVP of the game.
“He was really quick and explosive in the first
half,” Scates said.
A series of kills by Peña and junior Allan Vince gave the
Bruins a temporary 10″“point lead in the second and third
quarters.
But the alumni came back to within one point, taking advantage
of the Bruins’ serving errors and miscommunication at the
net.
“It was definitely a struggle because we haven’t
played together before, but we had some big guns out there,”
senior Cameron Mount said.
Mount, rendered ineligible to play for UCLA this season after
his redshirt freshman year was voided, had to deal with playing on
a new team.
“I just think it’s really unfortunate. It’s
hard for me to understand why this is happening to me, but
I’m getting over it,” he said.
Komer also acknowledged the difference playing on the alumni
side.
“The current team is doing well, considering they’ve
lost me, and now Cameron, but I think they’re going to be set
in January,” Komer said.
The alumni caught up at the beginning of the fourth quarter, 105
to 103. Assistant coach Mike Sealy, coaching the alumni team,
called the starting lineup back onto the court for the fourth
quarter. With rising scores the game intensified, the alumni
team serving deadly cross-court kills and both sides streaking
across the floor in an effort to return the volleys. The game
was soon tied at 139.
After the Bruins scored a kill to make it 140-139, the crowd
erupted with mixed reactions. One more score until the
match-clinching two-point lead.
With the ball, the alumni served into the net. The current team
was now again in control. With one final irretrievable serve,
the Bruins ended the game 142″“140.
“It was fun, though it’s still competition against
high caliber players,” freshman Dennis Gonzalez said.
“Coach Scates always plays to win, and keeps the competitive
edge in the game.”
Mount, removed from this year’s squad, still didn’t
feel as though there was a division between them.
“I wasn’t thinking about being on the opposing side,
but just playing with them,” he said. “I definitely
still feel that I have a role on the team.”