Cautious of the unknown, the Bruins head into tonight’s matchup against Cal Baptist wary of the visiting Lancers.
The No. 4 Bruins (6-3, 4-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), coming off their biggest win of the season at then-No. 2 Pepperdine, hope to keep their momentum heading into tonight’s contest. They face defending champion UC Irvine on Friday night.
The Lancers aren’t exactly typical cupcake competition; the Bruins needed a fifth set to pull off a victory last year.
The Lancers (2-3) look to redeem themselves after back-to-back losses to No. 1 Brigham Young in Utah.
With the Lancers’ 0-3 record on the road, the Bruins don’t want to be a friendly host for the four-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics defending champions.
The NAIA is a smaller league than the NCAA and follows different rules and recruiting regulations, which is partially why California Baptist has been so competitive in recent years.
“They give twice as many scholarships as we do,” coach Al Scates said. “They have foreign players in their late 20s who could be considered professionals.”
While the toughness and maturity of Cal Baptist may be a concern for the Bruins, the team’s focus has not changed.
“We plan to take every game the same way, whether or not the game is conference or nonconference,” said junior Ryan Ratelle, who recorded a career-best 23 kills in Malibu.
Ratelle, averaging 18.5 kills over the past two games, plans to keep up his superb play after his recent offensive outburst.
“(Ratelle) has been exceptional,” Scates said. “Before, we had trouble finding an opposite who could hit from the back and front row. Ratelle has been filling that.”
In what appears to be an early-season tuneup, the Bruins hope to keep up their strong play even if they are not sure what to expect.
“Cal Baptist is a well-coached team with good players,” Scates said. “They could compete in this league and do well, but the MPSF won’t let them in because they follow different rules than the NCAA schools.”
As for his game plan, Scates said he doesn’t have any tricks up his sleeve.
“We’re going to play our standard offense and defense,” Scates said. “We have no tapes on them. We exchange with every team in our conference, but all we have to look at (for Cal Baptist) is their statistics.”
And with statistics, Scates will see that Cal Baptist’s Donald Baliaba, a junior outside hitter, will need to be defended. Leading the Lancers with 5.5 kills per game, the Cameroon native scorched the Bruins with 23 kills last year, hitting .474 as UCLA squeezed out a narrow victory.
While previous experience against Cal Baptist should help the Bruins tonight, Ratelle is still concerned.
“Without watching their videos, playing them will be tough because we don’t know their tendencies,” Ratelle said.