The UCLA men’s volleyball team’s biggest loss may
have come far before Saturday night. On Thursday afternoon, to be
exact. That was when UCLA’s starting setter, Dennis Gonzalez,
broke a finger on his left hand and was declared out for the
season. The injury left the No. 2 Bruins reeling and in search for
a proven setter with only one day of preparation left before their
first playoff game of the season. “The injury couldn’t
have come at a worst possible time for us,” UCLA coach Al
Scates said. “If the injury happened on Monday, we probably
would have swept Northridge in three.” Gonzalez’s
replacement in Saturday’s lineup, redshirt junior Aaron Dodd,
had not played in a match all year long. He was briefly taken out
in favor of the more frequently used Gaby Acevedo in the second
game, but after Acevedo was called for two holding penalties, Dodd
returned by the end of that game. He finished the match with 56
assists and 10 digs, but was unable to get in rhythm with the
Bruins’ hitters until the third game. The hitters for UCLA
combined for a mere .212 hitting percentage in the first two games
and looked to be out of sync for the beginning of the match.
“It definitely took a while for the team to get going,”
opposite hitter Steve Klosterman said. “We just needed to get
used to a new lineup.” Dodd, who did not even practice with
the first team until Friday, was surprised with the circumstances.
“I definitely was not expecting to be in this situation, but
when something like Dennis’ injury happens, you just have to
be ready,” Dodd said. “I think our team definitely made
the best out of the situation.” Dodd’s inexperience
came to a climax in the fifth game when the Bruins led 14-10 and
Bruin hitters connected unsuccessfully on six straight points.
“I was just unable to get it to the right hitter,” Dodd
said. “But what can you do; it was the story of the entire
night.”
HOPES STILL ALIVE: The Bruins still have a slight chance of
receiving an at-large bid to the Final Four, but they will need a
lot of help to get there. The Bruins will need top-seeded
Pepperdine to win the MPSF tournament and will also most likely
need fifth seeded Long Beach State to lose to sixth seeded UC Santa
Barbara in Thursday’s MPSF semifinal match. If that occurs,
the Bruins would likely be compared to sixth-seeded UCSB in the
eyes of the selection committee and the Bruins would have the
advantage, having defeated the Gauchos already twice this season.
“We are still holding hope for an at-large bid,” Scates
said. “A lot of things will have to go our way, but I like
our chances.” UCLA was helped out on Saturday as third-seeded
BYU and fourth-seeded Hawai’i both lost their quarterfinal
matches. Now, only fifth-seeded Long Beach State remains in the
tournament as one of the lower-seeded teams who beat the Bruins
during the regular season. But as Saturday’s loss shows,
there is much to be determined in terms of outcomes. The Bruins
will learn their outcome for sure next Sunday, when the Final Four
selections are announced.