A week ago, UCLA men’s volleyball coach Al Scates said
that his team could be the best it’s been all season if his
new setters had only a few more days of practice. Now that Aaron
Dodd and Gaby Acevedo have had that week of practice with the first
team, Scates is just as optimistic about the upcoming NCAA
Championships. “We’ve had a week for Aaron and Gaby to
practice setting the quick hitters, so now we’re capable of
running our entire offense,” Scates said. “We’re
definitely stronger now than when we played Northridge.”
After a finger injury sidelined starting setter Dennis Gonzalez
before UCLA’s conference quarterfinal match against Cal State
Northridge, Dodd was forced to play despite not setting in
competition all season. The result was a tough UCLA loss. However,
last week’s practices allowed Dodd to gain experience and
become comfortable setting all positions and hitting routes.
“Dodd is now connecting with the middle hitters, and
we’re running all the routes,” Scates said. “Last
week, we had one play, the simplest play, for the middles. Now
he’s got the whole offensive package.” Meanwhile,
Acevedo took the extra practice time to become accustomed to
setting with the first team again. After starting the first eight
matches of the season, Acevedo had been relegated to a bench role.
“My main focal point was my precision of setting to all the
different players,” Acevedo said. “Last week’s
practices were really intense because we knew we had to improve. It
was like the preseason again.” With the extra practices, Dodd
and Acevedo have both improved to the point where either setter
could start when the Bruins face Penn State on Thursday. “I
wanted both setters to be comfortable with everybody,” Scates
said. “I’ll definitely be able to use both of them if I
need to.”
GETTING HEALTHY: Last week, injuries that had been plaguing
seniors Kris Kraushaar and Jonathan Acosta all season finally
seemed to have improved. Kraushaar had frequently missed part or
all of practices due to recurring migraines. He also experienced a
loss of strength and endurance. But last week, he was able to
complete practice every day without complaints of headaches or
weakness. “I felt a lot better last week than I have in a
while,” Kraushaar said. “I haven’t had any
headaches, and I hope to be at full strength by Thursday.”
Meanwhile, Acosta has recuperated from the latest strain in stomach
muscles he experienced several weeks ago. He has had stomach pulls
throughout his career and still wears a special belt around his
stomach. “Jonathan is finally better, so that’s really
good news,” Scates said. “He looked so good coming off
the bench in the Northridge match, and now he’s healthy. He
had a great week in practice and is hitting the ball as good as
I’ve ever seen him.”
PRAHLER’S RETURN: After spraining his ankle twice in the
last few weeks and missing several games, senior Brennan Prahler
returned to practice completely healed last week. “It was
nice to have a full week to get comfortable again and work on a few
things,” Prahler said. “It’s felt good to be 100
percent and not have to worry about my ankle anymore.” Prior
to the injury, Prahler was the hottest hitter on the Bruins’
team. Since the injury, Steve Klosterman has taken over the
opposite hitter position. With Prahler’s return, Scates now
has every player except Gonzalez healthy and ready to contribute.
“Every player on this team can contribute,” Scates
said. “We’re two deep at every position.”