Wednesday night’s UCLA-Long Beach State volleyball match might not be the Game of the Century but the battle of the nation’s top-ranked squads is certainly going to be one of the biggest matchups early in the 2016 men’s volleyball season.
The No. 1 Bruins (8-0, 4-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will host the No. 2 49ers (6-1, 3-1) in a match of two vastly improved teams. Last year, both teams finished at the bottom of conference playoff seeding, but an influx of talented youth appears to have set the two SoCal programs up for the long run.
The 49er freshmen have been especially dominant, garnering back-to-back Off the Block/Springbak, Inc. National Freshman of the Week honors. Two weeks ago it was outside hitter TJ DeFalco, whose 4.46 kills per set are second in the conference. Most recently the honor went to setter Josh Tuaniga, who had 74 set assists in a weekend split against No. 3 BYU.
“Right now they’re the sharpest offensive team we’ve seen – they have a setter and an outside hitter (in Tuaniga and DeFalco) who have played their entire high school together, they’re both outstanding,” said UCLA coach John Speraw. “They have nice depth, a nice bench. … I think they’re an outstanding volleyball team.”
The 49ers’ offensive juggernaut is powered by a pair of upperclassman middle blockers – senior Taylor Gregory and junior Bryce Yould – who lead the conference in hitting percentage and provide the team with veteran leadership.
“I think they’ll play quick – their setter sets a quick offense and they just play well as a unit,” said UCLA freshman outside hitter Dylan Missry. “Long Beach is well-coached and a good team so they’ll definitely push us.”
The 49er defense can’t be overlooked, either.
“Long Beach is probably the best defensive team in the conference, so they’re going to dig a lot of balls,” said redshirt junior middle blocker John Zappia. “They have a really good freshman outside hitter and a really good setter, but I think their biggest weapon is their defense – (they’re a) really scrappy team and very disciplined.”
Opponents haven’t been able to contain the Bruins’ offense for long this season, as UCLA often fights through early slow starts to finally find itself late in the matches. Junior middle blocker Mitch Stahl has been the steady veteran presence UCLA needed and freshman setter/hitter Micah Ma’a has invigorated the offense, pairing up with junior setter Hagen Smith in the flexible 6-2 system.
Speraw said his team would continue to play in transition, but needs to increase its offensive efficiency if it wants to beat Long Beach State. He added that the team’s serving must improve, too, after committing 18 errors on Monday.
The Bruins should have a full roster back after resting a few key starters in Monday’s sweep of Princeton, and Speraw said that Wednesday’s match will be one of the first true tests for his undefeated team.
“We’ve played a stretch of matches here where we’ve played teams who I think we’re better than at this point in the season, but starting with Long Beach we’re playing some teams who are equal or sharper than we are,” Speraw said.
UCLA, while currently the top team in the country, lacks any signature victories so far in 2016. Its biggest win came nearly two weeks ago against then-No. 4 UC Irvine. Since then, though, the Anteaters have stumbled to a 2-4 record and subsequently fell to No. 9 nationally last week.
The Bruins only faced a single other top-10 team – the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes – in a four-set win earlier in the month. But it is otherwise tough to gauge how this year’s team will fare against a truly dangerous opponent.
There is one certainty going into the midweek showdown: Wednesday night will tell both teams – and the rest of the nation – just where they stand in the hierarchy of the nation’s elite.