The No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball team has not been ranked this high since 2005. However, players agree that going into the UCSB/Elephant Bar Collegiate Invitational, the ranking means nothing if they are not where they should be.
After a long preseason where the Bruins worked to equip themselves with the tools they were lacking during last season, the Bruins will open the tournament this afternoon against the No. 5 Cal State Northridge Matadors.
The No. 2 ranking, senior setter Matt Wade said, “does not really mean that much.”
“We haven’t proven anything and … we have a long way to go,” Wade said. “Northridge is our first opponent and that’s where we’ll start proving ourselves.”
The Bruins lost to the Matadors at the preseason SAC Tournament on Nov. 22, but senior outside hitter Sean O’Malley said that the Bruins did not feature their starting lineup while the Matadors did.
“I don’t know that you can take too much from (that loss),” O’Malley said. “What we do know is that they are a really strong team, we know what they are doing because they had their starting seven out there, and hopefully we can use that to figure out what is going to be best for us.”
The Matadors have lately been something of a problem for the Bruins, losing the championship at the SAC Tournament and two key matches to the Matadors last season..
Northridge possesses All-American senior outside hitter Eric Vance, who led the Matadors to a sweep of UCLA last season. In a four-set home victory over the Bruins, Vance led the Matadors with 18 kills. He also slammed 10 kills and 12 points in a road victory at Pauley Pavilion in a later match.. Vance also comes off a season where he was sixth in the conference in total kills, third in total aces and fifth in points.
“As far as I’m concerned, (Northridge) is the best team in the tournament,” O’Malley said. “So we have been planning the whole last two weeks for that match and we’re looking forward to it.”
The other teams featured in the tournament include unranked Pacific, No. 14 UC Santa Barbara, No. 9 BYU, No. 8 Stanford, No. 6 UC Irvine and No. 4 Long Beach State.
In the second match of the tournament, the Bruins are slated to face either Pacific or UCSB. Saturday will feature the final matches for each team, capped with the tournament championship.
STARTING SEVEN STILL NOT SET: Coach Al Scates has announced only a few of the team’s starters, including junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia, freshman opposite Kyle Caldwell and sophomore quick hitter Weston Dunlap.
Also, sophomore libero Tom Hastings, who was set to be the team’s starter at that position for the whole season, will be academically ineligible this quarter. With backup libero sophomore Jeremy Casebeer sidelined after undergoing surgery in the fall, redshirt sophomore Teddy Goetz has solidified his spot as the team’s starting libero.
The second quick hitter position will be filled by redshirt senior D.J. Stromath, freshman Thomas Amberg or freshman Nick Vogel, Scates said.
The second outside hitter position will be filled by either O’Malley or redshirt junior Brett Perrine.
Finally, two top-notch setters, Wade and junior Kevin Ker, will likely be splitting time as setter this weekend and for the rest of the season.
“The program is all about competition,” O’Malley said. “There is always somebody ready to take your spot, and it’s that kind of motivation and competition that keeps us going.
“We want to believe that brings out the best in us.”