If the men’s volleyball team hadn’t been granted the
at-large berth to the Final Four last season, they would have had
Cal State Northridge to thank.
Last April, Northridge knocked UCLA out in the quarterfinals of
the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs, but the Bruins
were still awarded the at-large berth to the Final Four in May.
Now UCLA (6-5, 2-3 MPSF) finally has the chance to return the
favor against the Matadors (6-4, 2-3) tonight at 7 p.m. in Pauley
Pavilion.
“I still remember that game vividly,” junior
opposite Steve Klosterman said. “We were up 14-10,
couldn’t pull it out. (It’s still) kind of a sore spot
in our minds.”
“We’re going to have some fire because they took us
out last year, but we’re going to go out there and do the
best we can,” sophomore libero Tony Ker said.
The Bruins’ passing and serve receive will be tested, as
Northridge is the conference leader in aces. Currently the Matadors
boast an average 1.5 aces per game. Three from Northridge are among
the top 10 in average aces per game, led by outside hitter Cary
Hanson, who has 16 aces so far this season.
“They have more good servers than anyone we’re going
to play this year,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “We have
to be on our A game as far as our passing game is concerned. They
bring it every night they play, that’s for sure.”
However, the team is confident they will be able to handle the
Matadors’ tough serves tonight.
“I think we had a great day of passing practice
(Thursday),” Ker said. “Klosterman is coming out and
doing a great job passing, and Paul George is always doing really
good, and I can help out, too. So I think we’re going to be
alright as long as we can get it up there.”
If UCLA can pull out a win tonight against Northridge, the
Bruins’ conference record will be up to .500 for the first
time this season. It would be an achievement for the Bruins after
starting out conference play with a 1-3 record.
“That’s definitely been the goal in our minds the
last couple weeks, since we started off slow. But after we get to
.500, we’re going to keep striving to go higher and
higher,” Ker said.
Though still early in the season, the playoffs are looming in
the team’s mind.
“Getting up to .500 would be good, but getting over .500
is our goal in making the playoffs and winning,” Klosterman
said. “It would be big, but it’s just one
step.”
“We’re 2-and-3, and we want to make sure we’re
one of those league playoff teams so that we can get a chance to
get in the Final Four,” Scates said.
“It’s very important we beat Northridge.
They’ll be one of the teams we’ll be competing with for
a spot (in the eight-team conference playoffs) right
now.”