After splitting two matches last week against Long Beach State and UC San Diego, the Bruins wanted a victory before they travel to Irvine this Friday to face a very strong, second-ranked Anteater squad.
In their first matchup this season with a team outside of the western United States, UCLA men’s volleyball represented the quality of MPSF and Western teams by sweeping Loyola Chicago on Wednesday night, 30-26, 30-23 and 30-22.
The No. 5 Bruins (12-8, 9-7 MPSF), who lead the overall series 2-0, played the No. 11 Ramblers (14-4) on the exact same date last year and were able to come away from that game with a 3-2 win.
However, this clearly was a different Rambler team than the Bruins played last year. This year’s team possessed some of the best offensive production statistics in the nation.
Not only did they boast a nine-match winning streak coming into last night’s match, but they had the fifth-best offensive attack in the nation at a 0.340 clip, led by senior James Grunst, who ranked second in hitting percentage at 0.562, and junior Ian Anderson, who ranked sixth in the nation in kills per game at 4.95.
The Bruins put a dent in these numbers and showed that playing in California isn’t as easy as playing in the Midwest.
The first game revealed that both teams were there to win. Fight was seeping from both sides of the net. While the Bruins looked for the discipline to take a lead, keep it, and close out the game, Loyola came threatening midway through, led by Anderson with six kills. But the Bruins were able to close out Game 1 nevertheless.
Game 2, however, saw a reinvigorated Rambler team. Anderson was able to pound six more kills, and sophomore Nick Lamoureux added four of his own. The Bruins were able to keep form and kept ahead of the Ramblers before closing strong again and taking the game.
Although the Ramblers lost Game 2, they had a team clip of 0.417 in the game, something UCLA coach Al Scates wouldn’t let continue.
“After the second game I told the team (that Loyola) was hitting above 0.350,” Scates said. “We had to shut them down and I told (the team) they had to dig in and make the block tighter, and they responded.”
In the third game, the Bruins shut the Ramblers down to a 0.171 attack percentage and easily completed the sweep.
“We picked up on their tendencies,” senior captain Paul George said. “Their right side was going off … so we said, “˜Let’s key in on him … and not let them hit the balls they want to hit ““ make them hit balls that they normally hit out of bounds.’ That’s what we did and it worked out for us.”
Senior Steve Klosterman kept his hot streak alive, leading the team with 17 kills. George added 11 and redshirt sophomore Jamie Diefenbach contributed 10 of his own with a 0.571 hitting percentage.
“When he’s on his game, you can’t stop (Klosterman),” George said. “If he can go put up these numbers for the rest of the season … the rest of us will step up and support him.”
Scates echoed George’s praise of Klosterman, as well as adding some of his own for George’s efforts this season.
“Paul George and Steve Klosterman have been carrying this team,” Scates said. “The other guys are starting to get better too ““ Kevin Ker is getting better, (Brett) Perrine is blocking a lot better, Diefenbach’s footwork is getting better on his blocking, so the other guys are starting to pick it up. Garrett (Muagututia) is just playing a good all-around game like he always does.”
A three-game sweep may be just what the Bruins need as momentum for what will be a tough match against UC Irvine on Friday.
“(This is) a great transition for us,” George said. “We played pretty good volleyball tonight, but I know we didn’t play our best volleyball, so we’ll bring that on Friday.”