For the second time this year, strong serving from Cal State Northridge kept the Bruins on their heels.
No. 2 UCLA dropped its first game at the UCSB/Elephant Bar Collegiate Invitational to the Matadors in four sets 24-30, 30-26, 30-18, 30-21 on Friday.
“It was the same story in all the games, we aren’t passing very well right now,” coach Al Scates said. “We are becoming predictable passing the ball; everyone knows where we are going to set, so we aren’t putting the ball away.”
The Bruins entered the tournament with hopes of avenging a loss in the SAC Tournament but were held at bay by a constant stream of jump-serves from the Matadors. Northridge torched the Bruins’ passing for 12 aces.
The problem with receiving serves resulted in a sputtering offense that could only muster a .130 hitting percentage with 26 errors in 108 attempts. Junior outside hitter Brett Perrine led the way for UCLA with 11 kills with freshman opposite Kyle Caldwell adding 10. Sophomore quick hitter Weston Dunlap tallied seven blocks.
In the second round of the invitational, UCLA rebounded against unranked Pacific with an easy sweep of the Tigers 30-25, 32-30, 30-26. The Bruins served a total of 13 aces in the match, one shy of the school record.
“They didn’t have as many good servers as a quality team like CSUN does,” Scates said.
Junior setter Kevin Ker paced the Bruins with four of the team’s 13 aces, while senior hitter Sean O’Malley recorded 13 kills and senior quick hitter D.J. Stromath put the ball away nine times.
But UCLA ended the tournament on a bad note by losing to No. 6 UC Irvine in three straight games, 32-30, sixth-place finish overall.
UCI had 11 aces while the Bruins struggled again with passing, notching a .196 hitting percentage to the Anteaters’ .338.
The Bruins used many lineups throughout the tournament in an attempt to find some sort of consistent passing. Fifteen players were used in three different lineups.
“I had to try out this tournament,” Scates said. “I had to look at everyone we needed to see. We are valuing everyone, going to watch the video and break it down. I can’t tell who the starting lineup is going to be yet.”
Coming up, the focus will be solidifying a lineup and working on passing. The team, which has been using a serving machine, will also be bringing in a live serving team to practice to help improve passing.
With conference play opening up Wednesday against CSUN for the third time, the Bruins will once again have to face the Matadors and are hoping for a different outcome.
“Overall we could have done a lot better, but things are how they are and you can’t change them,” said senior Matt Wade. “Things are definitely going to get better. Wednesday is the first chance to prove we are the team we need to be and can be.”
LIBERO PROBLEMS: With the departure of three-time All-American libero Tony Ker, the team is struggling to find a replacement as first string sophomore Tom Hastings was ruled academically ineligible until spring quarter and Jeremy Casebeer is out after having surgery on a torn meniscus.
Walk-on Christian Kolb took over the position for the UCSB Invitational and Teddy Goetz, a former middle blocker, also played.