Nearly always overshadowed by his teammates’ efforts,
redshirt senior middle blocker David Russell never truly had his
time in the limelight.
But tonight was his night to shine.
Russell led the Bruins to a 28-30, 31-29, 30-23, 30-15 victory
over UC Santa Barbara (13-16) in the play-in match Wednesday night,
keeping their championship dreams alive. UCLA (21-12) extended its
win streak to nine games, while the Gauchos will begin their long
offseason.
On a night where UCSB was blocking balls as if it were a wall,
it could not stop Russell.
Wednesday proved to be a field day for Russell as he slammed
down an error-free 11 kills with a hitting clip of .550.
“My family was coming, my sister, my brother; it’s
the last time that they possibly would see me play,” Russell
said. “So I just went out there and did everything that I
could.”
Russell rocketed down five aces as well, and put the Gauchos in
constant passing trouble.
“His serving was amazing,” said junior opposite
Steve Klosterman, who was also a core contributor Wednesday night,
adding 22 kills. “I think it almost won us the match. They
couldn’t pass anything and he had a bunch of aces. I think he
really stepped up.”
“I started him serving first because he had a good day in
practice yesterday here in Pauley,” coach Al Scates said.
“He was at home yesterday and he had the same rhythm
today.”
But perhaps the night will be remembered as the one when
Russell, turned sideways, blocked a Gaucho overpass kill with one
arm. It was a last-second defense that turned out to be the
momentum shifter.
Though the Bruins had the home court advantage, it wasn’t
until that moment midway through the second game that the UCLA fans
erupted in support of their home team. When Russell sent the ball
ricocheting off Gauchos and down for the emphatic point, the crowd
was on its feet and the Bruins finally got the energy that was
missing in the first game.
Up until that play, though the UCLA band was in attendance, the
yell crew was cheering, and the sport court donned the UCLA colors,
the Gauchos seemed to be more at home and in control than the
Bruins. UCSB came out fiery and with much more energy than the home
favorite Bruins, while UCLA came out flat.
“Apparently it didn’t feel like home because we sure
didn’t play very well the first two games,” Scates
said. “But we played very well in the third and fourth games,
so it’s how you finish that counts.”
“We took them a little for granted in the
beginning,” Klosterman said. “But you can never take a
team for granted in an elimination game. They showed a lot of fire
from the beginning.
“Our rhythm just wasn’t that great. We were pretty
determined after we lost (the first game). That kind of shocked us
into it, shook us up.”
Also providing a spark off the bench for the Bruins for the
second time in a week was redshirt senior setter Dennis Gonzalez.
With the Gauchos waiting at the Bruin attackers’ doorstep
each set, UCLA brought Gonzalez in to bring a new look and feel to
the Bruins’ predictable offense.
“I came in and tried to fire people up,” Gonzalez
said.
“All the seniors really stepped up, especially when Dennis
came in,” Klosterman said.
With the win, UCLA has earned the right to face off against the
second-seeded University of Hawai’i Warriors on Saturday in
the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinals.