Men’s volleyball’s surprise switch pays off

Doug Partie, Jeff Nygaard, Adam Naeve and Steve Klosterman?

Could this be the list of the greatest middle blockers to come through the UCLA men’s volleyball program?

On Friday night, the “Other Wizard of Westwood,” coach Al Scates, proved he still has a few tricks up his sleeve when he switched his Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 NCAA Tournament from opposite to middle against No. 10 Cal State Northridge.

And the move paid off with great dividends: Klosterman led the No. 3 Bruins in shutting down Northridge in five games 27-30, 30-23, 30-25, 23-30, 15-10.

The win put a halt to the Bruins’ four-match losing streak, giving them an overall record of 3-4 and a conference record of 1-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Matadors, led by outside hitter Eric Vance’s 18 kills, dropped to 2-5 and 1-2 in league play.

Coming into Friday’s match, Scates vowed to switch up his lineup if need be. But no one could have imagined the 45-year veteran coach would take such lengths to improve the team’s efficiency.

In a closed practice last Thursday, Scates stuck Klosterman, who had recently been struggling at opposite and hitting negative against BYU, in the middle, and middle blocker Brett Perrine over to the right side. Both players benefited from the trade ““ Klosterman pounded 11 kills and roofed eight balls, and Perrine notched 13 kills and also served up some trouble for the Matadors.

“(Setter Matt) Wade and I were connecting well,” Klosterman said. “It was a little exciting. It was the first time in seven years that I’ve played in that position.”

“It was nice to see (Klosterman) perform so well on one day’s practice,” Scates said. “He’s a natural as a blocker and he’s got a quick arm. They were double committing on him at the end. It was good to really have a middle presence because it really opened up the outsides.”

Because of Klosterman’s efficiency in the middle (.556), outside hitters Paul George and Garrett Muagututia were free to roam the left side. Muagututia led all players with 11 digs and 19 kills on the night, for an average of .412.

“(Garrett) had the best night of his freshman career,” Scates said.

All the switching and swapping led the Bruins to a .388 hitting percentage Friday, their highest of league play so far this season.

Scates also added redshirt junior Eric Chaghouri into the mix at starting libero, but put usual starter Tony Ker back in for the final four sets. True to his word, Scates also substituted in freshmen Kevin Ker and Dylan Bowermaster when he felt his starters weren’t getting the job done.

But if Bruin fans are wondering whether Scates will be pulling more rabbits out of his hat any time soon, they will just have to wait and see.

“One trick will be more serving practice,” Scates joked. “We had good serving but no aces (Friday night).”

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