Last season when the men’s volleyball team’s 14-match winning streak culminated in NCAA Title No. 19, the Bruins won it over No. 4 seed Penn State, which wasn’t expected to make it that far. All the odds were in favor of No. 1 seed UC Irvine to make it to the championship match, and UCLA was prepared to take them on. But that showdown never came.
Tonight, that highly anticipated should-have-been title match will finally play out at UC Irvine’s Bren Center. No. 5 UCLA (12-9, 9-7 MPSF) comes into tonight’s match riding a mini two-match winning streak and is hoping this is enough momentum to take down No. 2-ranked Irvine.
“They were the hot team coming (into the tournament),” said Steve Klosterman, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 NCAA Tournament.
“They had beaten Penn State already before in the season so we expected them to win. But stuff happens.”
“I was actually disappointed that we didn’t get to play Irvine, but as it turned out, playing Penn State in front of a packed house was a good thing to do, too,” UCLA coach Al Scates said.
The Bruins lost to Irvine in their two conference meetings, and the two schools never met while UCLA was on its winning streak.
But missing out on the chance to prove themselves against Irvine late last season isn’t compelling the Bruins to feel the need to prove their title tonight. Instead, UCLA understands that this is a new season with wholly different dynamics.
“We don’t have to prove our title to them, but it would be good to show what we can do this year,” Klosterman said.
“It’s a whole new year,” team captain Paul George said. “We don’t have to prove anything. We can come out and play our game and play our best and that alone should be enough. We can beat them, no doubt about it.”
The confidence level George exudes is supported by the two teams’ nearly identical season statistics. Though the Anteaters have a better record and have beaten teams that UCLA has lost to, the numbers prove that this match can certainly be closer than the differences in standings and records indicate.
Irvine and UCLA are currently ranked third and fifth in hitting percentage, with .344 and .300 clips, respectively. The two teams’ blocking numbers are tight as well, with the Anteaters just edging out the Bruins 3.1 to 2.95 blocks per game. UCLA, however, takes the edge in digs per game, climbing the ranks from 11th in January to fifth with 9.16 digs currently.
“They have a couple good hitters and our players are starting to hit better,” Klosterman said. “They’re always good and they’re playing really well lately.”
“I think (Irvine’s) hitting is very good,” Scates said. “They’ve beaten so many more teams than we have, and (hitting efficiency and blocking) is how you do it. Lately we’ve taken a big jump in hitting and blocking and serving. We’re on the upward trail. We’ll see if we can keep it up.”