UCLA men’s volleyball will open its season this weekend at the UCSB Asics Invitational, taking on conference opponents St. Francis, Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) and Limestone College.
While this weekend will introduce a No. 4 Bruin team that is much different from the one that went 2-3 in the same Santa Barbara tournament last season, it will also provide coach John Speraw with the opportunity to finalize his starting lineup before meeting No. 1 BYU next week.
“I think we have a pretty even team in terms of depth,” Speraw said. “I certainly think we’re going to develop a starting team here shortly, but I think the guys are used to playing with different guys on the court.”
The Asics Invitational provided a wake-up call for the Bruins last season, when early losses called attention to the need for team unity, according to junior setter Steve O’Dell. With four true freshman getting their first taste of MPSF play as well as two redshirt freshmen joining the lineup for the first time, UCLA will be looking to work through similar challenges on the court.
“It hasn’t been super hard – the guys are all great guys and have made it easy to adjust (to college play),” said freshman outside hitter J. T. Hatch.
For the few veterans on the team who do have valuable backgrounds competing in the premier college volleyball league, the team’s lack of experience has been balanced out by a diligent preseason training regimen.
“(I’m most excited) to get a chance to play after a long summer of training,” said redshirt junior middle blocker Trent Kersten. “It’s been a really long and hard summer and we had a really good fall – we trained hard in the fall – and it was good to see us come together after break. We got significantly better over break and that was good to see.”
UCLA will take on St. Francis Friday at 10 a.m. in UCSB’s Thunderdome before meeting IPFW at 7 p.m.