After spending two matches on the bench, sophomore Steve
Klosterman of the UCLA men’s volleyball team made sure that
any time he spent on the court Wednesday night wouldn’t be
wasted.
With the Bruins losing during the second game against No. 9 Cal
State Northridge, Klosterman was substituted in for junior Damien
Scott, and proved to be UCLA’s catalyst.
Klosterman sparked the Bruin offense and stayed clear of the
bench for the rest of the night, having a large hand in
UCLA’s, 30-23, 33-31, 27-30, 30-27 win over the Matadors at
Pauley Pavilion.
Though he hadn’t played in a match since March 17,
Klosterman proved to be anything but rusty, clocking two kills as
soon as he entered the game.
“Klosterman did great,” UCLA coach Al Scates said.
“This was a breakout game for him. He had been in a downhill
slide, but tonight he did very well.”
With 16 kills on 29 attempts, Klosterman led the top ranked
Bruins with a .517 hitting percentage.
“I always have the same routine and I am always ready to
go,” Klosterman said. “Tonight I went in and helped
gain momentum for the team. It was great.”
Klosterman’s performance on Wednesday night, however, was
almost overshadowed by Matador senior Nils Nielsen, who totaled 25
kills as he frequently and effectively read through UCLA blockers
all night long.
The task of covering Nielsen was bestowed upon redshirt
sophomore Matt McKinney, who tallied 17 kills in his first full
match since rejoining the team. McKinney expressed some frustration
after the match on his ability to contain Nielsen.
“He was on fire tonight,” McKinney said.
“Every move he made, I had to come up with counter-moves
which mostly weren’t good enough.”
Scates was surprised with Nielsen’s play, and pointed out
his prominence as the main reason why it took four games for the
Bruins (23-3, 16-3 MPSF) to finally put away the Matadors (15-12,
8-11).
“We couldn’t stop Nielsen,” Scates said.
“He read our blocks very well and was in the zone.
“He has never played this way against us before and we are
fortunate to win when a hitter does this well.”
But despite Nielson’s prowess, the Matadors simply did not
have nearly enough firepower to match UCLA’s depth.
Aside from Klosterman and McKinney, senior Paul Johnson also
stepped up his offense, registering 20 kills and four blocks.
“Johnson has been consistent all year,” Scates said.
“What he did tonight is what he does for us every
night.”
But after Wednesday night’s match, it’s what
Klosterman did that has Scates optimistic for the sophomore’s
immediate future.
“I want (Klosterman) to play this well for the rest of the
season,” Scates said. “If he can, that will be
great.”