It was an uphill battle for the men’s volleyball team
during its 14-match winning streak and title run last season, and
the Bruins will begin this season fighting great odds as well.
As defending national champions, the No. 3 Bruins will take on
No. 2 Brigham Young University in snowy Provo, Utah, tonight and on
Saturday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season opener.
The Smith Fieldhouse will surely be packed ““ the last time
the Bruins were in Provo was in 2005.
“I’m extremely excited,” middle blocker Jamie
Diefenbach said. “We played at Hawai’i and Penn State
last year with sold-out crowds completely against us. So it’s
a good challenge.”
“It gets us right into the season,” senior opposite
Steve Klosterman said. “I think we’re ready for them;
we’ve been training hard.”
Senior captain Paul George will lead UCLA into battle, joined by
fellow returnees Klosterman and Tony Ker at libero. George and
Klosterman were both named to last weekend’s All-Tournament
team in the UCSB/Elephant Bar Collegiate Invitational.
But with only three returning starters, the Bruins have a lot of
work at hand to fill the void left by their four graduated seniors.
UCLA will have quite a challenge on its hands as it faces off
against one of the toughest lineups in the conference in BYU.
“BYU actually has better athletes and more experienced
players than Irvine,” said UCLA coach Al Scates of his
team’s loss to No. 1 UC Irvine on Saturday. “I
don’t know why people didn’t vote BYU No. 1; they only
got a few votes. I voted for them No. 1 in the preseason poll
also.”
To beat the Cougars as well as the rest of the opponents on the
2007 schedule, the Bruins will need four others to step up and help
out.
The most crucial position was still up for grabs as of Tuesday.
But no one said replacing NCAA All-Tournament team member and
setter Dennis Gonzalez would be an easy task.
Last season’s backup setter Matt Wade is back in
contention after being held out of fall competition for breaking a
team rule. Senior Beau Peters and freshman Kevin Ker also have a
legitimate chance of running the offense.
Although Wade did not compete in last weekend’s
tournament, it was because Scates wanted to take a closer look at
Peters and Kevin Ker at the helm. But Scates’ conclusion as
to who will start is inconclusive.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time trying to figure
out which setter I’m going to leave off the traveling squad
because we have a pretty good battle at that spot,” Scates
said.
Filling the giant shoes left behind by middle blockers Nick
Scheftic and David Russell will be quite a challenge as well.
However, the Bruins fortunately have Diefenbach back on the squad
after he had been training with the men’s basketball team in
the fall. The redshirt sophomore is already averaging 1.2 blocks
per game in the three matches he has played in.
“It’s good to have Dief back there for us, blocking
balls,” Tony Ker said.
“It’ll take a little time (to get back into
volleyball mode), but I love being out here,” Diefenbach
said. “It’s fun to be out here with all the boys
again.”
Shaun Nichols and Brett Perrine both had phenomenal fall
preseasons, and either one could claim that coveted spot.
“Our redshirted freshman middles are doing a great
job,” Tony Ker said. “Nichols is improving very
rapidly. I bet in a couple years he could be an All-American middle
blocker. Brett Perrine has been doing a great job as
well.”
Scates has also played Perrine at opposite as a backup to
Klosterman. Meanwhile, Sean O’Malley recently had the cast
removed from his hand, which he injured during fall practice, and
it could be up to three weeks before he can block and dig again,
Scates noted.
With George having claimed a starting spot, there is room for
one more to fill the last role. Two true freshmen are in the lead
to collect that prize. Garrett Muagututia and Dylan Bowermaster are
acclimating well right out of high school. Muagututia is averaging
2.43 kills per game, and Bowermaster, who did not participate in
fall competition due to hand surgery, has added 3 kills per
game.
“Dylan is doing a great job,” Tony Ker said.
“He’s really impressed us because we didn’t
really get to see him in the fall.”
But with all these questions unanswered, the Bruins aren’t
worrying about a thing. They are gunning for a win, but know that a
loss to powerhouse BYU is probable. The young UCLA team is prepared
to learn, and learn early, so it can make another run for the
national title.
“We are not nearly ready to play the top teams like Irvine
or BYU, but I see a lot of promise in this team and we will be able
to beat them eventually,” Scates said. “I would be
surprised if we could do it now. But I’m encouraged by the
talent we have. It’s just a matter of building them into a
team that can beat everybody by the end of the year. It’s
encouraging because it’s a team like last year’s
team.”