The conditions for UCLA sand volleyball were less than ideal, but the same could not be said of the results.
There was the hard-packed sand to contend with, an element that played to the advantages of jump-lenient players, while serving as a disadvantage to a “ball-control team,” which is how coach Stein Metzger described his team.
And there was the “good-side, bad-side wind,” as Metzger called it, that came across the length of the sand volleyball court – an element that the Bruins had not faced all year, even in practice.
Yet, No. 6 UCLA (3-0) returned from Saturday’s competition at Irvine Valley College with its record unblemished, boosting the team’s confidence. The team won both of its games – 4-1 over Irvine Valley College and 3-2 over Cal State Bakersfield – leaving Metzger pleased.
“I thought we adjusted well to the conditions we weren’t used to,” he said. “We got used to the different elements and I thought we stayed calm … and moved forward.”
For UCLA, who had been beating teams using ball control, the adjustment was a critical one.
The doubles team of sophomores Karly Drolson and Rachel Inouye, who rely primarily on ball control, partially because they are “quite small in stature,” as Metzger said, had perhaps the largest uphill climb.
“I think it took us a while to get in a groove, but once we found it, we did really well,” Inouye said who, along with Drolson, won both their matches.
As a whole, the Bruins are continuing to find their groove as the season goes on.
“We got all our jitters out the first day on (Thursday), and (Saturday) we were just much more calm and ready,” said senior Madie Smith, who split her pair of matches with partner Zoë Nightingale.
UCLA now sits on three wins three games into the season. Last year, the team totaled three wins in 10 games. Though it is early in the season, the Bruins are excited about the improvement in their performance since last year.
“I saw great improvement in our team. I think we’re getting exponentially better with each tournament we’re playing in,” Inouye said. “It’s looking really great, and I’m excited to see where we go from here.”