Al Scates has way too many rings on his hands. And he’s
tired of it.
After all, it’s no fun for the UCLA men’s volleyball
coach since he gets them all the time ““ even while away on
his lunch break.
“I bet that’s the trainer,” Scates said before
chuckling and checking his voice mail.
Sure enough, it was. The trainer had called to report that
junior opposite hitter Marcin Jagoda was not allowed to jump in
practice because of his sprained ankle. Scates snickered.
Minutes later, the phone rang again. The trainer was calling
just to make sure Scates got the message.
“All right “¦ all right “¦ all right,”
Scates said.
In his 40 years of coaching, Scates has never had the health of
his players go oh-so-wrong. A rash of injuries has inflicted so
much damage to the Bruins that their injury list resembles a
formidable roster. UCLA has only survived because its
storied-program appeal has allowed Scates to maintain depth with a
30-man roster.
Nevertheless, it has been a mediocre 4-3 start for a Bruin team
that is used to winning national championships.
Right now, the team is just trying to field a consistent
starting lineup.
“Everyone is always day-to-day,” said senior setter
Rich Nelson, who is playing through a pinched nerve.
“It’s tough because with all the injuries, I never know
who I’m setting.”
The Bruins have been hit hardest at the opposite hitter
position, where they had hoped to find a solid replacement for the
graduated Cameron Mount.
Sophomore Allan Vince started for most of the fall, but he
injured his elbow in the last week of practice. Jagoda was set to
start in the season-opener, but sprained his ankle three days
before, leaving him sidelined indefinitely.
Sophomore Brennan Prahler was set to start the home-opener, but
he pulled an abdominal muscle in practice the day before and had to
sit out the match. He was set to return to action this weekend at
BYU, but sprained his ankle Monday and will miss another three
weeks.
“Things are just uppity,” Scates said.
The Bruins are also banged up at middle blocker, where the
absence of Scott Morrow is hurting them. The all-conference senior
has resumed workouts but is still recovering from surgery he had in
November on a knee he injured last March. Morrow’s backup,
junior Matt Shubin, was suffering from shin splints and now has the
flu on top of that. Neither will make the trip this weekend.
Junior Chris Pena, the other starting middle blocker, had a
breakout match on Saturday, slamming a career-high 21 kills. He
subsequently had an MRI on his shoulder for biceps tendonitis.
Sophomore David Russell, who was expected to redshirt the season,
is now practicing on the first court.
“It’s just adversity we have to get through,”
Jagoda said. “We have to weather the storm.”
It appears that the dark clouds are hovering over the Wooden
Center, where the Bruins practice. Players have nicknamed their gym
the “Big Blue Shoebox,” as there is so little room to
practice that they have broken the wall of mirrors that lines one
end of the court at least four times.
Of course, the Bruins only practice there because the
Men’s Gym, their traditional playground, is into its second
year of renovation. Scates said that the creaky old building has
the best playing surface in Southern California with its giving
hardwood. The Wooden Center surface, meanwhile, is laid on
concrete.
Scates suspects that the harder surface is the cause of his
calamity.
His players, meanwhile, suspect something supernatural. Cracked
mirrors. No hardwood to knock on. It all adds up.
“Me and (healthy libero) Adam Shrader were talking about
this, and there is some sort of curse,” Nelson said.
“Hardly anyone ever got hurt in the Men’s Gym. Now you
can expect to get hurt.”
At this rate, assistant coach Brian Rofer might as well go on
the injury list himself.
“I have this headache that’s not going away,”
he said.