A Tuesday night match versus an unranked, nonconference opponent usually does not mean much for the men’s volleyball team, but last night’s match against the Lewis University Flyers had a lot on the line.
The Bruins have been falling rapidly in the national rankings as well as the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation standings over the past three weeks, after losing four straight on a six-game road trip. That slide has also hurt the Bruins in their quest to gain valuable home-court advantage for the MPSF playoffs.
Led by a career performance by junior outside hitter Sean O’Malley and another strong performance by sophomore outside hitter Garret Muagututia, the No. 10 Bruins finally snapped their streak and defeated the Flyers handily in four sets, 30-27, 23-30, 30-25, 30-24.
Tuesday night’s victory for the Bruins bumped them to an overall record of 11-9 and dropped the Flyers to an 11-6 overall mark.
The story of the night, coach Al Scates said, was the play of the two outside hitters O’Malley and Muagututia.
“(O’Malley) had a career night,” Scates said. “This is probably the best O’Malley has ever played.”
O’Malley shattered his previous career-high in kills, with 23 last night and a .514 clip. Muagututia also played his usual powerful offense, recording 16 kills and upped his defense, working for 10 digs.
Senior libero Tony Ker, who had a career night of his own, breaking the all-time UCLA men’s volleyball record for digs, agreed with Scates.
“Sean O’Malley could do no wrong tonight,” Ker said. “He was absolutely amazing. I was so proud of the kid. He was unstoppable from an attacking standpoint.”
Ker broke the record in the third game in front of only 310 fans to help push the Bruins ahead in what was a close game.
“I came in this year saying I really wanted to break that record,” Ker said. “This year I feel like I’ve done a better job on defense. I’m honored to break that record.”
The Bruins remain on their home court to host the UC Santa Cruz Banana Slugs tonight in their last non-MPSF match of the season.