HONOLULU “”mdash; To end their winter vacation, 14 players on the men’s volleyball team enjoyed the fun and sun in Hawaii, and all 14 players had a hand in claiming a runner-up finish in the 14th Annual Outrigger Hotels Volleyball Invitational.
Coach Al Scates shifted his lineup throughout tournament play Thursday, Friday and Saturday, resulting in a mostly successful Outrigger appearance. The No. 3 Bruins defeated Ball State and No. 11 Hawai’i but fell to No. 4 Penn State, which finished the tournament with three wins.
“We’re just trying to see which best seven fit,” sophomore Garrett Muagututia said. “I think it’s nice to have a deep lineup.”
Not only did every member of the traveling squad see action, but also all played a significant role in each match. Scates brought two setters, four quick hitters, two opposites, four outside hitters, one libero, and a serving specialist to the islands, and all were able to fill in at their respective positions when their fellow teammates were in a hole.
“We find out eventually what works,” senior Tony Ker said. “It keeps everybody on their toes and it makes everyone keep getting better. Coach has got a real short leash on people, but it brings out the best in everyone because they’re trying so hard to get better.”
Most notable over the course of the tournament was the starting performance from junior outside hitter Ryan Ratelle in the Bruins’ five-game comeback against host school Hawai’i.
In his first official start in an NCAA match, Ratelle was solid in his passing and consistent in his offensive output, putting down eight kills for a 0.273 clip.
Redshirt sophomore Jeff Woodley also played a huge part in UCLA’s victory against the Warriors, providing a spark yet again from off the bench.
“We gave Woodley a chance finally (Saturday), and he came in and hit 0.600,” said Scates of Woodley, who put down 11 kills in 16 attempts. “It’s nice to know we have people on the bench who can come in and help.”
A solid offensive effort by Muagututia, who was playing in front of many of his friends and family from the islands, was rewarded with a spot on the All Tournament Team.
Quick hitter Jamie Diefenbach, who had a total of eight blocks, was given the same honor.
The majority of the awards, however, went to undefeated Penn State, which swept the Bruins Friday.
UCLA seemed to have learned from that loss and put it to use against Hawai’i the next night.
“Penn state is a good team, and that very well could be the national championship match,” Ker said. “We’re going to have to work a lot harder in practice in order to play against those guys. We did a lot of things wrong in that game and shot ourselves in the foot.”
“No matter what’s going on, we have to keep fighting and keep playing as a team,” Muagututia said.
After a tough weekend of nonstop volleyball, the Bruins returned home late Sunday in time for classes today, and they will begin preparing for Stanford and Pacific this weekend.