Before the year began, I promised myself that I’d attend a
UCLA men’s volleyball game this season.
Going off of the advice of someone close to the team, however, I
was assured that I could wait as late as the NCAA Championships in
two weeks, because there was no stopping these Bruins.
So as Saturday night descended on Westwood, I thought about
meandering over to Pauley Pavilion to catch a glimpse of
UCLA’s top-ranked men’s volleyball team, but since they
were ONLY playing No. 7 Cal State Northridge in the conference
quarterfinals, there’d be many more chances to watch them and
not waste a Saturday night.
I decided on fine cuisine instead.
Struggling with the chopsticks while trying to eat my first bowl
of chashu ramen, I received the disturbing phone call.
“Umm, men’s volleyball is down 2-0 to
Northridge,” my friend said.
I almost choked on the ramen. Unlike the Bruins’ match,
though, I was able to recover.
While making a terrible dinner guest, I spent most of the
evening searching for all of the reasons that UCLA didn’t
choke, but instead fell victim to an upset that we all should have
seen coming.
Well, starting setter Dennis Gonzalez dislocated and broke his
finger on Thursday, leaving just one practice for setter Aaron
Dodd, who hadn’t played in a game all season, to get
acclimated with the team. That had to be the reason.
Maybe.
But for a team whose greatest asset is its depth, I don’t
buy it. Losing Gonzalez had to hurt, but if the Bruins have stood
by one mantra this season, it’s that no one player is bigger
than the team.
I start to receive strange glares from the patrons, most likely
because I’m the only one who ordered a Coke with dinner.
Probably pales in comparison to the faces of the 600 fans in
attendance on Saturday.
Well, UCLA struggled in its last match of the regular season
against pitiful UC San Diego, winning in five games. This following
a four-game loss to Long Beach State one day before. Maybe that was
a sign of things to come.
But UCLA men’s volleyball coach Al Scates used that
opportunity to rest his starters and give playing time to those who
don’t usually see it. That time off might have explained the
Bruins’ slow start, but it doesn’t account for the
fifth-game meltdown.
I just tried potstickers for the first time, I am still a rock
at dinner, and the Bruins still choked.
Well, there was more pressure on this year’s team to win
than any other in the program’s history.
It’s been five years since UCLA last claimed a men’s
volleyball championship, the longest such streak since Scates took
over the reins of the team. Furthermore, the Bruins are hosting the
championship. Can you imagine the pressure of not being invited to
your own party?
Yet last year’s team felt a similar pressure, being the
first class to graduate without having won a national title. At
least those Bruins didn’t crumble in the first round of the
conference playoffs. This year, the players were only faced with
having to close out a playoff match, and that is the type of
pressure they should all be well accustomed to.
The waitress asks if anyone wants dessert, but I’m full on
ramen, and there’s just no going on. Apparently the team
shared my sentiments.
Well, maybe the Bruins were so exhausted after coming back from
a 2-0 deficit that they just didn’t have it in them to close
out the match. They deserve credit for even taking the match to a
fifth game, and the heartbreaking 16-14 score was more a tribute to
Northridge’s perseverance than UCLA’s ineptitude.
But the Bruins led 14-10 in that final game, and that’s a
point you can’t escape from. They lost six points in a row,
failing to record a single kill or block in that span.
Losing a few consecutive points is bad luck. Losing six in a row
with the season on the line is a choke.
I feel bad for my table manners, offer to pay the bill, and hope
the NCAA Tournament committee knows the Heimlich maneuver.
My ability to see a UCLA men’s volleyball game this year
rests on it.
E-mail Seth at sglass@media.ucla.edu