For only the second time this season, the Bruins will host a two-game home-stand, which players and coaches agree will be pivotal to establishing momentum.
The No. 8 Bruins (4-5, 2-3 MPSF) will begin the weekend’s matches tonight in Pauley Pavilion against their MPSF rival, No. 6 Stanford (7-3, 3-2).
Though Stanford has not won in Pauley Pavilion since 2003, they have risen quickly in the MPSF rankings over the past two years. The Cardinal has posted impressive victories over No. 7 Long Beach State, No. 9 BYU and No. 15 UC San Diego so far this season.
Even with Stanford’s recent strong play, UCLA looks forward to playing at home.
“We’ve been struggling on the road,” redshirt freshman Jack Polales said. “(The two home games) will give us a good chance to try and get back on track before we go on the road trip.”
The road trip will take place over the ensuing two weeks, where the Bruins will be away from Pauley Pavilion until Feb. 25.
Coach Al Scates agrees that a win over Stanford is critical for a Bruin team that, so far this season, has been a patchwork of new and old.
“With the exception of that first home match when (freshman) Jamey (Ker) was out there for the first time as a libero, we play great at home,” Scates said.
Scates added that now that the team has had some time to play together and establish themselves at their positions, they can work on their weaker rotations and build on their offense to incorporate new plays. One-dimensional play has been a consistent problem for the Bruins early in the season.
“There are different options we can utilize now that we are getting some good passes,” Scates said. “Jamey is passing well and people are getting used to each other now.”
Scates looks for a player other than junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia, who has been the team’s most consistent player, to step up this weekend. Senior outside hitter Sean O’Malley, freshman opposite Kyle Caldwell, as well as Polales, have been occasional standouts for the Bruins in key matches this season.
O’Malley and Caldwell dominated against Cal Baptist last week and Polales has had a few impressive performances off the bench, including being a spark for a fading Bruin squad last Friday against UC Irvine.
The Bruins have also had three days in a row of practice, which they have not had since the start of the season, to prepare for Stanford.
Stanford is coming off two impressive wins in a four-set battle over UCSD and a five-set marathon win over Long Beach where they fought off two match points.
Stanford saw the blossoming of their freshman outside hitter Brad Lawson in those two wins. Lawson went off against Long Beach, posting 27 kills and only 6 attack errors to bring a .438 clip in a match where Stanford coach John Kosty started only two of his regular starters.
Though the Bruins are first in aces in the MPSF, the main aspect of the Bruins’ play that will take the spotlight tonight is their block and defense to counter Stanford’s duo of Lawson and junior opposite Evan Romero.