For three years, both outside hitter Paul George and middle
blocker Nick Scheftic watched from the sidelines as their teammates
had most of the playing time and excelled on the court. Now, after
five of the seven starters from last year’s NCAA final team
graduated, George and Scheftic are two of the few team veterans and
have been asked to carry the bulk of the responsibility for the
men’s volleyball team this season. “They were two guys
that we thought really had to take a pivotal role this year,”
UCLA coach Al Scates said. “The guys look upon them because
we have so many young guys now.” George and Scheftic
undertook their roles in fine fashion on Jan. 7, leading the Bruins
with 18 kills and 14 kills, respectively. George’s 18 kills
were a career high and demonstrated an outstanding effort against a
49er team that is considered to have some of the best defensive
moves in the country. “The (49ers) always have one of the
toughest defensive fronts,” Scates said.
“George’s effort was one of the bright spots
considering the deplorable hitting percentage we had in that
game.” This season, George assumed the role of departed H-2
outside hitter Kris Kraushaar and is the primary passer on the
Bruins’ defense along with sophomore libero Tony Ker.
Scheftic is replacing All-American middle blocker Paul Johnson, who
graduated last season as one of the top Bruin hitters. “Nick
has been waiting a long time for this chance, and he has pretty
large shoes to fill,” Scates said. “I’m fully
confident that he will be able to do the job.” Scheftic, a
redshirt senior, has been with the Bruins four seasons but has only
played 12 matches in his career. This season alone, he has already
started at the Bruins’ seven preseason games and at their
first three games at the UCSB/Elephant Bar Collegiate Invitational
in Santa Barbara. “Nick is streaky at times,” Scates
said. “But after playing a handful of preseason games and the
tournament in Santa Barbara, he is making steady
improvement.”
KLOSTERMAN BACK PRACTICING: Opposite hitter
Steve Klosterman has been taking limited swings during practice the
last couple of weeks, Scates said. Klosterman underwent shoulder
surgery over the off-season and has been limited to 35-40 swings in
practice. He has also been sitting out during workouts every third
day. “He’s been making progress,” Scates said.
“After this week of practice, I will determine on Thursday
whether he will suit up for our road match against UC Irvine on
Friday.” Klosterman participated in warm-ups last Friday in
the Elephant Bar Invitational, but did not play in the game.
OUTRIGGER CALLS: For the first time since 2002,
UCLA will participate in the Outrigger Invitational, hosted by the
University of Hawai’i. UCLA has historically been very
successful in the tournament. The Bruins claimed victory five years
in a row, until they did not receive an invite following the 2002
title. “I guess they need us back to boost attendance,”
Scates said. “It will be nice to go back out there.”
UCLA will face Penn State and Ohio State during the first day of
the tournament, before facing Hawai’i on their home court
next Friday.
QUICK SETS: The NCAA has announced that it will
expand the NCAA men’s volleyball playoff field from four to
eight teams in either 2007 or 2008. The athletic council is meeting
later this year to determine whether it will be economically
feasible for the NCAA to immediately expand the playoff field
starting next season. The extra four bids would probably mean an
additional one or two bids for the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation, which has traditionally been the strongest conference
in men’s volleyball.