It could only be described as a heartbreaker.
In a battle for fifth in the nation, the No. 5 UCLA men’s volleyball team (3-5, 1-4) fell Wednesday night to the No. 5 Pepperdine Waves (4-1, 3-1) in five thrilling back-and-forth games (30-21, 26-30, 35-33, 27-30, 14-16).
After spending three weeks on the road, the Bruins were looking forward to finally spending time in their own gym in front of their own fans for the first time this regular season. Coming off a recent win at Cal State Northridge last Friday night, momentum also seemed to be on the Bruins’ side.
But the Waves, led by Australian outside hitter Paul Carroll, had other plans.
Although the Waves scored the very first point of the match, UCLA would battle back to gain the lead and win the first game outright. The tide then turned for the Waves, who fought back to win the second set. But it was the third game that set Pauley Pavilion afire in a rush of adrenaline.
Back and forth the Waves and Bruins went until the very end ““ 29-29, 30-30, 31-31 ““ all the way until 33-33. Finally, thanks to the constant contributions of quick hitter Jamie Diefenbach, freshman outside hitter Garrett Muagututia and senior outside hitter Paul George, the Bruins found the energy to pull ahead 35-33 and win the game.
The team was hyped, the fans were ready and it seemed that UCLA had gained the momentum they needed to put the Waves away.
Then, in the terms of a ubiquitous cliche, it all fell apart.
The Waves seemed to be down and out of control for most of the fourth game, confirming the momentum the Bruins had picked up in the previous game.
Then the Waves, led by Carroll (who finished with 37 kills on the night), somehow found a way to battle back and win, sending the match to five games. That’s when the Waves took control for good.
They grabbed an early lead in the fifth game and kept it.
The Bruins tried to battle back and even tied it at 13, but a few hits later and the Waves had taken it, point, game and match, at 16-14.
In such a close loss to Pepperdine, a school that parallels UCLA in its historically accomplished men’s volleyball program, George could only think of two words that encompassed the team’s feelings for the night: “Let down.”
“Throughout this year we’ve had our ups and downs,” George said. “I think we had it tonight but not all the way through. It’s a lesson as a young team ““ we’re learning. We can’t always come back in the end. As much is done to fire you up, you can’t do it every time. We just let the match slip away.”
If there is an optimistic side to this loss, is that it is early in the season.
One can’t help but think of last season, when the Bruins were struggling going into their home match against USC.
After being down 0-2, the Bruins came back to win, then started a 14-match winning streak that culminated in a national championship.
“It’s early in the season,” George said. “We know we have a lot to look forward to. We’re a young team that’s really, really getting better and we’re finding our niche. Every match will be a battle for us from here on out, but I think we’re going to be just fine.”
The Bruins will take on the Trojans this Saturday at Pauley Pavilion, a game that could very well determine the character of this Bruin volleyball team for rest of the season.