The Bruins were down 2-0, they were playing their rival USC at
home, and the game was regionally televised. Lose, and the Bruins
men’s volleyball team, 12-12, 5-10 MPSF at the time, would
fall in serious danger of missing the conference tournament.
Frankly, as coach Al Scates said, it would have been a disaster.
But somehow, miraculously, the Bruins, after losing to USC earlier
in the season for the first time in 6 years, came back to beat
their crosstown rivals 3-2. “I don’t know how we did
it, but we had to,” Scates said. “We were just playing
for a spot in the conference tournament.” “If we missed
the playoffs, it would have been a disaster.” Well, that
almost-disaster eventually turned into glory ““ the Bruins
used the comeback victory against the Trojans to propel a 14-match
winning streak and eventually the NCAA National Championship last
Saturday. The Bruins had plenty of great moments during their
streak into the finals, but it all started with what seemed like a
meaningless match at the time against the Trojans in mid-March.
“We all knew we were on a losing streak and none of us wanted
to play like that or have a season like that,” senior outside
hitter Damien Scott said. “Even if we lose one game, I want
to come out the next game and win the match, and that’s the
attitude the whole team had.” Following the match against the
Trojans, it seemed like the Bruins were a new team. Junior outside
hitter Paul George, who had the lowest hitting average on the team,
starting getting his kills in the court, and opposite Steve
Klosterman, who was playing out of position as outside hitter, came
back fully healthy and played with a fire. More importantly, the
Bruins started to play with a purpose. “You have to go into
the gym and know that you are going to win,” senior Dennis
Gonzalez said. “That is the Bruin attitude. No matter what
happens in the match, you know you are going to win.”
Building off the momentum of their winning streak, the
Bruins’ seniors, Scott and middle blockers David Russell and
Nick Scheftic, also began to emerge. All three, after all, were
starting for the first time in their final year as Bruins.
“It just took them a while to get used to the system,”
Scates said of his seniors. “But once they got confidence,
you could see that transition in their play.” “I had
never seen a team that has improved so much technically in one
season.” Scott finished with a career-high 2.84 kills per
game while Scheftic continuously improved his blocking to finish
the season with a 1.01 block per game average. Russell, meanwhile,
became the Bruins’ best server. Though none of the Bruins
were eventually named to the American Volleyball Coaches
Association All-American team for their improved efforts, the
Bruins could care less on Saturday. Because after going through the
worst season in UCLA history as freshmen, and nearly missing the
postseason this season, they were the most unlikely of national
champions. “We just did everything right at the moments we
needed to,” Gonzalez said of his seniors. “This class
has worked out the most for sure, and that extra strength helped us
to win at the end of the season.”
VOLLEYBALL DENIED: The NCAA Budget Committee
recently denied the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Tournament
Committee’s request to increase the number of teams in the
NCAA Championships from four to eight. The Budget Committee this
year received over 300 requests from sports to increase their
funding, but only NCAA men’s indoor track and field was
approved, according to Scates. “Men’s volleyball is the
most underallocated sport in the NCAA,” Scates said.
“Only four teams out of more than 80 get represented in the
NCAA Championships.” “There are so many good teams like
Long Beach, Pepperdine, BYU and Hawai’i, that are not
represented.” The men’s volleyball tournament committee
last summer decided to approve the increase in the number of teams,
but the decision now lies in the Budget Committee’s hands.
According to Scates, there were only 23 men’s volleyball
teams when the NCAA initially approved the four-team format. There
are currently 82 teams participating in NCAA men’s
volleyball. With reports from Michael Wozny, Bruin Sports
reporter.