There were no smiles on the UC Irvine players’ faces coming out of a late game five timeout. After being up two games to none and leading the majority of the fifth set, the Anteaters could not fend off the UCLA men’s volleyball team any longer.
A grueling 140 minutes after the first serve, the No. 4 Bruins were able to pull off a feat that they had been incapable of doing in the past two and a half seasons. Not since 2005 did they record a win against their Southern California counterparts. But Friday night, UCLA outlasted the No. 2 Anteaters 23-30, 24-30, 30-28, 30-28, 17-15 in front of the season’s rowdiest crowd.
The Bruins recorded their biggest win of the season and improved their record to 17-10 overall and 11-9 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. Meanwhile, the Anteaters dropped only their fifth match and fell to 22-5 and 15-5 in MPSF play.
UCLA did not see success until late in game two, stumbling out of the gates with its seemingly endless serving errors, absent block, and inefficient middle attack. The Bruins did not see any real production until middle blocker Jamie Diefenbach and setter Matt Wade substituted in the end of the second set.
The team’s hitting percentage climbed throughout the first three sets, rising from the slump of a game one .179, to a game two of .290, and a game three attack of .440.
Meanwhile, Wade and Diefenbach contributed five blocks in the small amount of time they played in game two, and by game three, production skyrocketed as UCLA was able to get solid blocks on the Anteater hitters. The Bruins had outblocked Irvine 26-11.5 by the end of the match.
“We were just getting our hands over the net early and doing something we haven’t been doing all year,” said Wade, who had eight blocks on the night.
“It’s time we started blocking the ball,” said Diefenbach, who stuffed the Anteaters nine times. “The last time we played these guys … we couldn’t block anything. Our emphasis is just to get two guys up on their big guns, and we finally got some blocks.”
Had it not been for the return of the Bruin wall at the net, the Anteater middles surely would have handed the loss to UCLA. Irvine middles Matt Webber and David Smith were virtually untouchable, as they combined for 24 kills and an average hitting percentage of .647.
“We’ve studied this team well,” said team captain Paul George, who emphasized the magnitude of the block in Friday’s win. “We knew where the ball was going to go, and our middles did a hell of a job.”
UCLA coach Al Scates found yet another spark off the bench in redshirt junior Eric Chaghouri, who replaced libero Tony Ker in game three.
“Eric did an amazing job,” said George, who, along with Steve Klosterman, led the team with 17 kills. “The libero is not an easy position to play coming off the bench. The guy comes in, gets a shot, and plays well; (you) can’t ask for more. I love when he comes in. He’s a talker and fires up the team.”
And thus the Bruins learned the secret to defeating the Anteaters Friday. It took 26 blocks, three crucial substitutions, and a lot of heart.
“It’s just a testament to the depth of the team; that you can bring in three new players and go on to beat the No. 2 team right now,” Diefenbach said.
“Every point counts in this game,” George said. “Especially in game five situations, you have to give it your all. And by giving it your all, you have to be up spiritually, mentally (and) hygienically.”