After cruising to consecutive straight-set victories last week,
the UCLA men’s volleyball team is looking forward to a much
needed break to recuperate from various injuries and ailments.
With wins over Rutgers and George Mason this past week, the
Bruins will now have two weeks without a match before facing
Pacific on April 1.
Early in Wednesday’s match against Rutgers, senior Brennan
Prahler, who recently entered the starting lineup, sprained his
ankle and will be out for the next several weeks.
“Prahler’s been our best outside hitter recently,
particularly against Pepperdine,” UCLA coach Al Scates said.
“So we’re looking at Damien Scott and Paul George to
fill that spot. He’ll be rehabbing, and I don’t know if
he’ll be available for Stanford (on April 2).”
Other players with injuries include libero Tony Ker, who
suffered a mild concussion in last week’s match against
Pepperdine, setter Dennis Gonzalez, who has had recurring back
spasms all season, and quick hitter Paul Johnson, who tweaked his
ankle during Thursday’s match against George Mason.
“I was going to rest Johnson, but he was playing so well
and he told me his ankle was fine, so I went with him,”
Scates said. “Ker still has headaches, so we’re keeping
him out until the headaches go away and the doctor says he can
play.
“I think the break between the games will allow us to heal
up and come back stronger. There’s various things with
various guys. Everyone has something wrong with them at this stage.
You play through it, but it’s good to get a break
too.”
Before they could relax and recuperate, the No. 2 Bruins had to
focus on defeating No. 15 George Mason.
Despite a season-low 325 fans in attendance at Pauley Pavilion,
an impending break and various injuries, the Bruins won
convincingly 30-24, 30-21, 30-23 in only 75 minutes.
Behind the strong play of Johnson, who smashed 10 kills (.692)
and had a career-high four aces, and Allan Vince, who tallied eight
kills (.615) and four blocks, UCLA never relinquished its early
leads in all three games.
“We played real well, and everyone had a great
game,” Vince said. “It has been a struggle in the past
for us to find motivation against lesser teams, but everyone had a
desire to win.”
Taking over for senior Kris Kraushaar in Game 3, seldom used
senior Gray Garrett tallied five kills in only seven attempts
(.571).
“It’s definitely easier to experiment with players
that don’t usually play when we play against easier
teams,” Scates said. “It’s my only chance to play
guys. Garrett’s been on the pine for two and a half months
and played well.”
The depth of the team was evident as redshirt freshman Eric
Chaghouri, who had only played in seven games before last week, and
freshman Gaby Acevedo both provided key contributions in
Thursday’s match. Chaghouri recorded four digs while Acevedo
had 35 set assists.
“Chaghouri’s doing a great job, and made some nice
plays,” Scates said. “So we’re happy with his
play. Gaby hasn’t played in a long time, so I wanted to give
him some playing time. He seemed to be connecting and followed
directions real good, so I just kept playing him.”
The Bruins now have a couple weeks to rest and recover from any
injuries, a break they are eagerly awaiting.
“We stayed focused and did what we needed to do to win by
concentrating only on us,” Kraushaar said. “Now we have
a nice break that will help because we’re all banged up and
need time to nurse our wounds.”