Playing in Pauley Pavilion has never been the same for the Bruins.
With their 6-2 home record this season, it may seem that the longtime pad of the UCLA men’s volleyball team is as home-team friendly as it has ever been.
That’s not the case.
Against the Grand Canyon Antelopes, coach Al Scates took an unorthodox approach, electing to start from the east bench for the first time in his 47 years as coach of the Bruins. The move paid off, as UCLA won in straight sets.
Now the No. 11 Bruins (8-10, 4-7 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) hope to continue that streak when they face No. 2 UC Irvine (15-3, 10-2) tonight in Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins hope their third match this season against the Anteaters goes better than the first two. UCLA has lost to UCI twice this season ““ falling at Irvine and at Santa Barbara in the UCSB Collegiate Invitational tournament.
Until defeating the Antelopes Wednesday, the Bruins had not won at home since Feb. 6. Nevertheless, it is clear that playing at home gives the Bruins some much-needed confidence as they look to turn their season around.
“(The Anteaters) are a really good team,” junior setter Kevin Ker said. “But we have gotten a lot better at playing defense.”
Since facing Irvine twice in January, the Bruins have faced a number of highly ranked teams and have had a hard time establishing momentum.
Also, with two key players, junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia and sophomore quick hitter Wes Dunlap, injured, the Bruins have struggled against those stronger teams.
“Missing key players like Garrett and Wes, it is tough to come back,” Ker said. “It’s going to happen, though, so we just have to play through it.”
Scates has been preparing senior Ryan Ratelle and freshman Kyle Caldwell, both opposites, to possibly play outside hitter by working on their passing in practice this week.
Yet the main focus of those practices has been improving the defense. During conference matches, UCLA ranks sixth in blocks and 10th in digs in the 12-team MPSF.
Ker said the Bruins watched game tape from their previous match against Irvine to point out what they need to improve.
“There was a lack of defense in the video,” Ker said. “That’s been our main focus in practice the last couple of weeks.”
Scates added tonight’s match will boil down to who can play better on their own side of the court.
“If we hit above .300, we have a great chance to beat them,” Scates said. “It’s all about taking good swings and backing up our hitters.”
Now in the second half of UCLA’s season, a win will be critical in forming a favorable playoff picture. Currently eighth in the conference, the Bruins are only one match ahead of UCSD in the standings. The rest of the conference has established a considerable distance ahead of the Bruins, though, with seventh-place Stanford holding a two-game edge on UCLA.
With the winner of the MPSF tournament gaining an automatic entry to the NCAA Championship, a favorable seeding in the tournament will be critical to the Bruins’ title hopes.
The journey to a favorable seeding begins tonight at home, perhaps from the east bench.