Two matches on the bench were just the wake-up call Steve
Klosterman needed.
Replacing senior Brennan Prahler in the third game of the UCLA
men’s volleyball team’s 3-1 victory over Pacific on
Saturday, the sophomore opposite hitter helped seal the
Bruins’ victory by leading the team with a season-high 17
kills.
After hitting only 34 kills over the previous 25 games (.089),
Klosterman came off the bench to hit .500 in the 30-22, 30-22,
27-30, 30-16 win.
“Klosterman certainly looked good,” UCLA coach Al
Scates said. “He didn’t hit any balls out and played
under control. He didn’t hit every shot as hard as he could.
Instead, he was picking his spots and mixing it up. I liked it. He
looked sharp.”
Despite not warming up when he started Game 3, Klosterman
dominated the Bruin offense with a game-high eight kills in only 12
swings.
“I was just waiting for my opportunity to play, and I took
advantage of it when I got in,” Klosterman said. “I was
excited to get back out there, and I tried to play every point as a
new opportunity.
“Before, I used to get caught up in how I was doing, but
now I focused on how the team was doing instead of how I was
playing, and I ended up playing better.”
Although Klosterman played well, the rest of the team
didn’t necessarily follow suit. After cruising to wins in the
first two games by holding the Tigers to a .036 hitting percentage,
the players appeared to lose their focus and let Pacific back into
the match.
With three cold players starting the game, UCLA quickly fell
behind 8-16. Although the Bruins mounted a comeback and closed the
gap to 17-19, that was the closest they would get in the game.
“We were doing well because we were mentally keeping in
the game, but after we won the first two games, I thought we let
down,” Scates said.
“However, I started three guys that were cold in Game 3
and should have warmed them up in the second game, so I take credit
for our bad performance in Game 3.”
Led by Klosterman’s nine kills in 14 hits, the Bruins
quickly rebounded in Game 4 to clinch the victory, hitting .565
while holding the Tigers to .067.
“We played well in the fourth game, but we definitely
should have been able to put them away in three,” senior Kris
Kraushaar said.
“They started playing better when we let up in Game 3,
which has happened several times lately. We need to improve on
putting teams away early.”
Closing out matches is one area Scates would like to see the
team improve in as it prepares to face No. 3 Hawaii this weekend,
which is undefeated in MPSF play.
“We made several unforced hitting errors, didn’t
challenge their block and our serving wasn’t very
good,” Scates said.
On Saturday, those mistakes were more than compensated for by
the Bruins’ higher hitting percentage. Top-ranked UCLA (14-1,
10-1 MPSF) overcame the No. 11 Tigers (9-8, 3-6 MPSF) behind strong
efforts by senior Paul Johnson, who tallied 13 kills (.435) and
four total blocks, as well as Prahler, who smashed 10 kills in his
third consecutive start.
“So far, we’ve been able to keep everyone who comes
in here way below their hitting average,” Scates said.
“It doesn’t matter what we hit; as long as the
differential is about 100 points, you’re going to win no
matter what.”
And now that Klosterman is back to form, the Bruins will face
Hawaii with an even deeper offense.
“Klosterman was pretty impressive,” Scates said.
“He came right in after being cold and hit .500, and
that’s impressive. Prahler’s been playing well too, so
now we have two strong players at that position.”