In their most inspired effort of the season, the No. 3 UCLA
men’s volleyball team upset No. 1 and previously undefeated
Pepperdine 30-20, 30-21, 20-30, 30-25 in front of 1,526 fans
Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The fans were excited from the start, as the Bruins (8-1, 4-1
MPSF) started with a 12-7 lead and never looked back against the
Waves (7-1, 2-1), easily winning the first game 30-20.
The second game was more of the same for the Bruins, as UCLA led
throughout to win 30-21.
UCLA was led by freshman Steve Klosterman, who had five kills in
the second game and really set the tone for the match from his
opposite position.
“They were really keying in on our other hitters and coach
(Al) Scates wanted to open it up,” Klosterman said. “He
gave me the chance and I took it.”
In the third game, however, the Pepperdine hitters started to
warm up and turned a 8-7 UCLA advantage to a 16-9 Pepperdine
lead.
Pepperdine’s two main hitters, Fred Winters and Sean
Rooney, caught fire, combining for 12 kills to win the game 30-20
for the Waves.
“Our game plan was to control Rooney and Winters,”
Scates said. “Things were working just as diagrammed in the
first two games, but our blocking fell apart in the third
game.”
At the start of the fourth game, Scates moved Klosterman to the
opposite side in a effort to try to contain Winters, the
Waves’ best hitter.
The switch worked, as Winters and Rooney started committing
numerous hitting errors, allowing the Bruins to regain control and
move out to a 22-19 lead.
“It was our key to the game,” redshirt junior middle
blocker Paul Johnson said. “We weren’t taking care of
their main hitters in the beginning, but our resilient blocking
effort allowed us to take control.”
With the Waves’ hitters in check, the Bruins finished the
fourth game with a series of redshirt senior quick hitter Chris
Peña kills to end the game and the match at 30-24.
Overall, the Bruins had a very balanced effort, with five
players having eight or more kills, and the team finished with a
solid .310 hitting percentage.
Johnson ended the game with 14 kills, while Klosterman and
Peña each finished with 11. Redshirt sophomore setter Dennis
Gonzalez tallied up 47 assists.
The crowd was the largest this season and provided a decided
advantage for the home team Bruins. They were cheered on by the
UCLA band, which was an added bonus for the team.
“We were very surprised about the large crowd,”
Scates said. “It was our only Saturday night match of the
year and the fans came out strong.”