The Bruins might’ve just figured it out.
They had just given USC a good old crosstown-rivalry drubbing. Given UCLA’s up-and-down tendencies this season, that meant the team was likely headed for a loss. But on Saturday night, the trend was finally broken.
The No. 7 UCLA men’s volleyball team (11-8, 7-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) upset No. 4 Pepperdine (8-5, 8-5) in straight sets on Saturday night, notching up their first consecutive conference victories of the season and handing the Waves their first home loss of the season. There are a variety of reasons the Bruins were finally able to come through on Saturday night, one of them being a marked improvement in one of the most important areas of the game.
“It all starts off with our passing,” said junior middle blocker Spencer Rowe. “Our passes are just really nailing the ball down and it allows our setter Steve O’Dell to distribute the offense and coordinate the game plan; it just really keeps the other team entirely off balance.”
For the second match in a row, the Bruins’ offense was firing on all cylinders, as demonstrated by their high hitting percentage: they followed up their .522 hitting percentage against USC with a .493 against Pepperdine.
A high hitting percentage often comes down to the setter. Freshman setter Steve O’Dell seems to be coming into his own within that role and has solidified his spot on the starting lineup. But when asked about his improving play of late, O’Dell put all the praise on his teammates passing him the ball and finishing off his sets.
“If the passing’s there, I just need to get it to one of our big hitters,” O’Dell said. “It’s really just about the passing and the hitting job is easy.”
In addition to passing, serving is another key skill for a team that wants to win. The Bruins took care of business in that regard against Pepperdine, thanks in large part to junior outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga. Quiroga was on fire from the service line, matching a career best with six aces.
The progress in passing and serving may be the team’s main cause for celebration, but other elements have contributed to the victories as well.
“I hope we’re learning how to become a winning volleyball team, not just in those aspects (serving and passing), but also in how we focus, how disciplined we are, and how we understand our opponents and prepare for matches,” said coach John Speraw.
“It’s also about just getting out there and competing at a high level, and I think we’ve done that this last week better than we have all season.”
The last two games hardly could have gone any better for the Bruins. They’re playing better than they have all year. Things are starting to come together. But as is always the case, there are always improvements to be made.
“I don’t think by any means that we’re a complete product,” Speraw said. “We still have a lot to learn and we still need to maintain our focus because we have so many big matches in the upcoming weeks and every single one of them matters.”