After the first two games, it looked like the men’s
volleyball team had the match against Cal State Northridge in the
bag. UCLA ran out to a two-game lead on the Matadors, winning
30-27, 30-25, but just like the last time Northridge beat the
Bruins in Pauley Pavilion last April, the Matadors stole the final
three games. The Matadors won games 3, 4, and 5 by scores of 30-22,
30-26, and 15-10, and raised their record to 7-4 (3-3 MPSF), while
No. 7 UCLA fell to 7-6 (2-4). “Northridge is traditionally a
team with a lot of heart, and they come back every time,”
redshirt junior outside hitter Paul George said. “We’ve
seen it countless times out of them.” In games 1 and 2, the
Bruins shined, out-hitting the Matadors .333 to .305, paced by
George who had nine kills and hit for .533 in the first two games.
George led UCLA with 16 kills on the night. UCLA also stepped up
its defense, led by junior opposite Steve Klosterman, who had 14
digs on the night. Sophomore libero Tony Ker led all players with
18 digs. “In games 1 and 2, we were running our offense and
getting one-on-one situations and hitting for big numbers,”
UCLA coach Al Scates said. But by the third game, Northridge turned
its serving game up another notch and showed the Bruins why they
lead the conference in aces. From behind the end line, Northridge
outside hitter Cary Hanson came into the match to serve and led a
6-0 run in the beginning of the third set and later came up with
two aces. “I think that was the biggest
difference””mdash;their serving,” Scates said. “Hanson,
when he came in the game, he served for a lot of points. He
didn’t play the whole match, but boy did he get a lot of
points [serving]. Unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of guys
who can replicate these types of serves.” “They are a
great, tough-serving team,” George said. “They came out
timid in their first two games with their serving, but they came
back and started ripping some jump serves at us.” Meanwhile,
the Bruins struggled with keeping their serves in during the third
game, committing six service errors. Tough serves from Hanson, as
well as from outside hitters Dan Rhodes and Eric Vance, put the
Bruins in constant passing trouble. This affected the Bruin attack,
and in the final three games, UCLA hit for a deflated .182, .106,
and .095 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Damien Scott and middle
blocker D.J. Stromath came in for Ian Jackson and Nick Scheftic in
Game 3 to provide a boost to the Bruin offense, but the Matadors
took charge of the match nonetheless. “At the end of the
match … Tony was still digging and Paul George was still digging,
but we weren’t getting digs from the other positions,”
Scates said. “When you can’t pass as well, you
can’t hit as well,” George said. “You can’t
run the middle, which is … one of our biggest weapons. That just
freed up their blockers; they put two guys up outside on
Klosterman, two guys up outside on me.” When freshman setter
Matt Wade did set the middle, redshirt senior quick hitter David
Russell came up big for the Bruins. Russell slammed down 12 kills
and led the team with a .375 hitting percentage. A thundering
Russell kill tied the fourth game at 23, but the Bruins were not
able to capitalize, as Hanson soon served up his third ace of the
night to end the set. UCLA and Northridge were knotted up early in
the fifth and deciding game. The Bruins went up 7-5 on another
Russell kill, igniting the crowd and the team, but the momentum
soon shifted. The Matadors ended the match on a 10-3 run, during
which time the majority of the Bruins’ sets went to the
outside where the Northridge blockers were waiting. “I think
we could’ve covered our hitters a little better,”
Scates said. “George got a trap set. I was very irritated
that we didn’t have three people under him at the end of the
match in the fifth game “˜cause he had six hands all over the
ball. It was pretty evident it was gonna be blocked.” Rhodes
promptly ended the match with his 17th kill of the evening. Outside
hitter Vance led the Matadors with 24 kills, followed by
Rhodes.
INJURY UPDATE: Though freshman setter Matt Wade
has started the last three matches, redshirt senior Aaron Dodd
suited up as his backup Friday night. Redshirt senior Dennis
Gonzalez, who started in the Bruins’ previous matches, was
injured in Thursday’s practice, but it is not anything
serious. “He caught one of Paul’s spikes on the end of
his finger,” Scates said. “He jammed it so he
couldn’t set (Friday); he wasn’t available to us.
That’s why he wasn’t suited, but he’ll be better
next week.”