After dropping a tightly contested first set, No. 8 UCLA (4-4, 2-2 MPSF) was able to bounce back and sweep the next three sets on their way to a 3-1 victory over Cal Baptist (3-4) last night.
“I thought it went really well,” senior outside hitter Sean O’Malley said. “I thought we had really good energy on the court, and that was something we’ve been missing lately.”
UCLA dropped the first game to the Lancers 34-32, and coach Al Scates listed blocking as the main issue.
“We didn’t pass well, we didn’t block well, and that’s a bad combination,” Scates said.
But a new team showed up for the second game.
“All of the sudden, our blocking picked up,” Scates said. “They hit negative in the second game, -0.125, so that was really good.”
The Bruins finished the game with 14.5 blocks to the Lancer’s 6.5.
Scates credits redshirt junior Brett Perrine as a major reason why the Bruins’ blocking improved. The outside hitter came in and helped the Bruins rebound in the second game to put away the Lancers 30-17. He finished the game with seven kills.
And UCLA held onto the momentum, winning the third game 30-23.
“I liked the blocking in Game 2 and Game 3 very well,” Scates said. “That’s what we are going to have to do; we’re going to have to hold the other team down.”
Cal Baptist libero Micah Tokuda went down diving for a ball in the fourth set and had to be helped off the court. With a suspected neck injury, a long break ensued, as the medical staff took the necessary precautions. But the Bruins went on to close out the set and take the match, 30-25.
“I thought we lost a little focus after the 20 to 25 minute break,” Scates said. “I didn’t think we were particularly sharp after that, but we were still hitting well and passing well.”
Cal Baptist’s Levi Cabral finished the game with 18 kills, while teammate Adiel Tiedjop led the Lancers with 20 kills and nine aces.
O’Malley and freshman opposite Kyle Caldwell helped pace the Bruins, each racking up 21 kills. Caldwell also contributed 14 digs to the Bruin victory.
UCLA finished the night hitting 0.409 compared to Cal Baptist’s 0.158.
However, the Bruins are still struggling to secure a starting lineup and will have a big match on Friday against No. 4 UC Irvine.
“I think we got a little taste of what we can hope to expect later in the season,” O’Malley said. “We have a solid group of guys with good energy, and if we can maintain that, that should bode really well for the rest of the season.”