Volleyball is a very systematic sport.
Teams are constantly trying to break each other out of their attacking scheme in order to build their own momentum and ride it out for a win.
Wednesday night in Pauley Pavilion, it was UCLA breaking Ball State out of their system, en route to their second straight sweep over a non-conference foe.
The No. 8 Bruins (11-9) took just less than 90 minutes to blow past the Cardinals (10-6), 30-26, 30-18, 30-27, relying primarily on punishing serving from their entire lineup.
“When we serve tough, we’re usually going to win games,” said senior setter Kevin Ker, who hit an ace of his own late in the final set. “Our serving is what got them out of their system. … That’s probably one of the best parts of our game because we get teams out of system.”
The Bruins hit seven total aces, including five in the final set, coupled with 15 errors.
“I’ll take two to one on errors to aces anytime,” coach Al Scates said. “Eighty-three percent in, that’s good. I was very happy with our serving.”
UCLA dominated the first two and a half sets with both its serving and blocking. UCLA outblocked its opponents 14 to five.
But the Bruins were facing a Ball State comeback late in the third set. They neutralized the attack with Ker’s ace to make it 29-25. After giving up a couple points to Ball State, the Bruins took the match on a kill by redshirt sophomore opposite Jack Polales.
“They were mounting a rally toward the end, and we needed to knock them down,” Polales said.
And the Bruins’ win came near the close of an eight-match home stand. UCLA is 3-3 at home so far and has two non-conference matches remaining before the team gets started on a five-match road trip against tough Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams.
For Ker, these non-conference matches serve as an opportunity to not only build momentum before heading on the road but also to gain some experience against teams they may face in the Final Four.
“It’s great to play other teams around the country just to get a feeling for what our main goal is, the Final Four,” he said.
Tough competition coming
The Bruins host Loyola-Chicago Friday night in Pauley Pavilion. The Ramblers are coming in off a five-set road loss to Long Beach State, their only defeat of the season.
“It’s going to get a lot tougher on Friday. … I think (Loyola is) going to be a lot better than they were against Long Beach,” Scates said after Wednesday’s win.
Switching roles
Wednesday’s match saw a few familiar faces out of their normal roles. Marvin Hall, a volleyball referee who often officiates UCLA matches, was the public announcer, filling in for the usual announcer, Dennis Koehne. In addition, assistant coach Brian Rofer’s son Remington, 7, ran stat sheets in the place of team manager Sean Perez, who is out with a leg injury.