Sometimes a great performance is just not enough.
For little-used fifth-year Brennan Prahler, who started in the
place of struggling sophomore Steve Klosterman on Friday, a
season-best performance against UC San Diego wasn’t enough to
convince UCLA men’s volleyball coach Al Scates to start him
in Thursday’s match against No. 9 Stanford.
Despite recording 10 kills in 19 attempts (.368), four block
assists, and five digs, Prahler will return to his position on the
bench.
The task of filling Klosterman’s big shoes will now belong
to Paul George, who was recovering from an injury when his
opportunity came around to replace Klosterman in Friday’s
line up.
“Paul has worked hard all season,” Scates said.
“He has earned this opportunity.”
Scates’ decision to pull Klosterman out of the starting
lineup was the result of a noticeable drop in the sophomore’s
usually solid hitting average. Klosterman’s hitting
percentage last week dropped to a mediocre .211 and is now the
lowest on the team.
“He has simply been trying too hard,” Scates said.
“We tried to get him to slow down his arm swing, and cut down
his errors, but it hasn’t worked.”
Klosterman was the Bruins’ leading hitter last season,
carrying a nine-game streak with over a .400 average, and finishing
with an astounding 3.89 kills per game. This year,
Klosterman’s average has dropped to 2.60 kills per game and
he has a team-high 53 hitting errors.
“We were thinking about moving him to the outside hitter
position,” Scates said. “But we are just going to have
stick with him at the opposite position for now.”
The reasoning behind Scates’ decision was
Klosterman’s blocking presence. The sophomore is third on the
team in blocks and is often given the sole responsibility of
shutting down the opposing team’s outside hitter.
“The hardest part about removing Steve was his
blocking,” Scates said. “He’s an imposing figure
on the net.”
George, a redshirt sophomore, will be Given the task of filling
Klosterman’s shoes.
“George, has been playing really well in practice,”
Scates said. “He showed the other day in practice that he is
ready to play.”
George recorded seven kills in a match earlier this season
against Cal State Northridge and had two aces in the fifth and
decisive game.