The UCLA men’s volleyball team swept past the visiting Princeton Tigers last weekend, concluding its nonconference schedule with an undefeated 4-0 record.
Now, the focus shifts to within the conference. For the final three months of the season, the Bruins will only see familiar faces as they play fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams during their 20 remaining regular season matches.
Familiar faces in the MPSF, however, do not mean easier competition. Out of the league’s 12 teams, nine are ranked in the latest American Volleyball Coaches Association poll.
Having already lost two matches to conference rival Brigham Young University, No. 9 UCLA (4-2, 0-2 MPSF) attempts to get its first conference victory against No. 5 Pepperdine (7-1, 3-1) on Tuesday night in Pauley Pavilion. The Waves come into the match having only lost to an undefeated USC team.
Sunday’s victory over Princeton was a chance for UCLA to get its footing back after stumbling in Provo, Utah the weekend before. In the process, coach John Speraw featured a new-look lineup of underclassmen, showing off some of the youth the team possesses.
“Everything was kind of clicking,” said freshman opposite hitter Christian Hessenauer. “We had just gotten back from a loss at BYU so I think we all wanted to go play hard and win our game.”
Led by freshman outside hitter J.T. Hatch’s offensive outburst, the four freshmen combined for 28 of the team’s 36 kills. Hatch was dominant in all three sets with a .733 hitting percentage and no errors in 15 attacks.
“It was nice just to get a good win,” Hatch said. “I felt it was good overall team performance so hopefully we can just carry that into this week.”
Pepperdine offers a more difficult matchup. The Waves have been succeeding in 2015 with a strong senior-led team all across the court. Outside hitter Josh Taylor has paced the offense with 88 kills this season and a .357 hitting percentage while All-American setter Matt West has 248 assists.
Defensively, the Waves are currently one of the best in the MPSF. With Pepperdine averaging 3.15 blocks per set, the UCLA hitters will have to adjust quickly.
“Obviously we had a tough, tough weekend at BYU, so to come back and get a win is nice,” Speraw said. “Can we take something from it? I’m sure we’ll learn some lessons, but Tuesday is a much different volleyball match. It’ll be a much more challenging team and we’ll have to play significantly better in order to win.”