UCLA men’s volleyball looked dominant for 18 points against UC Santa Barbara Friday night. For the remainder of the next three sets, the Bruins looked out of sync and out of depth.
The team’s 3-0 loss to UCSB was the latest installment in an unfortunate trend for UCLA. In the team’s latest game action, if the Bruins failed to capitalize on a strong start, they could not get themselves back in the game.
None of UCLA’s losses have been close this season. While it has managed to defeat opponents by scores of 3-0 and 3-1, it has been on the losing end of the same scores against all but two conference opponents. Not a single game has gone to five sets, indicating a lack of competitiveness in UCLA’s contests.
“Maybe it’s just going to get so bad and they hate losing so much that they figure out how hard and focused they’ll have to be,” said coach John Speraw.
While Speraw attributed the Bruins’ struggles to a lack of precision in passing and setting, UCLA’s pattern of play as of late stems from a more overarching problem: maturity.
“We talk about a young team, (but) maybe the young team isn’t about skill. It’s about our willingness to figure out how hard we’re going to have to work,” Speraw said. “I don’t know that we’ve decided that that’s what we want to do. We have to figure out how to be more focused and disciplined in practice every day.”
The Bruins have consistently suffered from what Speraw believes to be an unproductive work ethic in the training environment – a sign that the team’s youth translates to a lack of understanding of both the mental and physical expectations of the sport.
“Everyone loves to play but we just need more output from certain guys – not so much in the stats books but mentally, giving everything they’ve got,” said sophomore outside hitter Michael Fisher.
UCLA has consistently featured its four freshmen in its starting lineup, and Friday was no exception. However, Speraw substituted early and often, inserting new faces into the rotation such as redshirt freshmen middle blockers Oliver Martin and Eric Sprague, who did not see court time last season.
Sprague saw some of his most consistent playing time this season, recording an ace, a block and a kill. While his impassioned play gave the Bruins a spark, it was soon stifled by a more competitive and consistent Gaucho team.
“Everyone’s itching to get on the court so if guys aren’t playing, well then it’s definitely the right decision to put someone else in because we’re all capable of playing out there,“ Sprague said.
The Bruins look to gain their third conference win of the season against the California Baptist Lancers on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.