At the moment, playing to five sets is a habit the Bruins just can’t get rid of.
After going the distance in its first three games of the season, the No. 5 UCLA men’s volleyball team (3-1) was pushed to the edge once again by the Cal State Northridge Matadors (0-1) Tuesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins escaped by the tightest of margins in a match where neither team could keep control.
“The momentum swings were pretty significant,” said coach John Speraw. “A lot of that just has to do with general skill level at this point of the season. There were runs of points we were giving up that later in the year, as we get a little bit better, we won’t.”
Starting off the season with four straight five-set matches provides this relatively young team with experience that could be vital in later stages of the season.
However, going five sets day in and day out could ultimately cause some wear and tear on the players going through a packed schedule.
“I think we’re going to have to manage some fatigue here because we have three more matches (this week) and then we come back and play Long Beach (next week),” Speraw said.
“We have to make sure that we’re rested so I’m going to have to think a little bit about how we’re going to organize the next tournament, but so far I’m pretty happy with what we’re doing and the knowledge that we can win in fifth sets is important.”
Fatigue is a possibility if the Bruins keep playing five sets every time they take the court, but their success so far in these marathon matches is a strong indication of a well-conditioned team.
“We trained very hard in the offseason, and our preparation is definitely showing,” said redshirt junior outside hitter Dane Worley.
“We can see that we actually aren’t getting too tired in the fifth and we’re able to finish them off.”
Finishing off the Matadors wasn’t easy; there were eight tied scores in the fifth set, but ultimately junior outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga proved to be the difference.
“He wasn’t himself, so I just wanted to get him out and see if I could get him back to Gonzalo and it worked, he came off the bench and did a great job in the fifth,” Speraw said.
Quiroga was subbed back in with the team down 3-1 in the fifth set and it didn’t take him long to make an impact, ultimately recording six kills in the final set, which the Bruins won 15-13.
“It wasn’t that difficult (getting back into the flow of the game),” Quiroga said.
“The game was pretty hard, we were losing by a couple points but I think the energy of the team never came down so that’s why it wasn’t that hard to come back in.”
Email Leonardo at lvillalobos@media.ucla.edu.