Everything looked like it was going smoothly for UCLA men’s volleyball until the third set.
It was then that Hawai’i changed the existing narrative of the night, momentarily taking advantage of a big lead, repelling a large comeback and forcing the Bruins to spend an extra set to earn the win.
No. 2-seed UCLA’s (24-5) victory over No. 7-seed Hawai’i (16-12) Saturday night, with scores of 25-16, 25-16, 22-25, 25-21, moved the Bruins one step closer to a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation title.
In every set but the third, the home team overpowered the Rainbow Warriors with its size and height, earning its second MPSF semifinal berth in the last decade.
The Bruins took advantage of the high energy level at Pauley Pavilion and pulled away about halfway through each of the first two sets.
“It was kind of cool getting a little bit of the home atmosphere,” said junior middle blocker Mitch Stahl. “It was a pretty good crowd for support.”
The brevity of the first two sets was halted by a tumultuous third set for UCLA. After a flurry of several points in a row from Hawai’i, the Bruins found themselves down 19-9. They were able to steadily chip into Hawai’i’s lead before ultimately falling 25-22.
“In the third set … we had some problems with serve reception,” said coach John Speraw. “But, we still managed to respond and come back and almost take it.”
The UCLA comeback consisted of a 13-5 run that nearly saw the team finish the job in three sets.
“I think we were steady pretty much the whole time, even when we were losing points,” said redshirt sophomore middle blocker Oliver Martin. “I think that really helped us. … It was good to get some momentum.”
Evidently it did help the Bruins, as they carried the momentum into the following set. They held on to a steady lead after pulling away about midway through.
Hawai’i outside hitter Sinisa Zarkovic was a concern of UCLA’s going into Saturday night. However, Zarkovic failed to be very effective – in part due to the Bruins’ blocking – recording almost as many errors, eight, as kills, 11.
“(Zarkovic) is a really good player,” Stahl said. “He uses the block really well. … Our key to success was just getting over quick on him. He can’t hit around you whenever you’re established.”
Service aces and blocks helped make the difference for UCLA — the Bruins more than doubled the Rainbow Warriors’ ace count, 10 to four. The home team totaled 11 blocks on the night, compared to just two from the visitors.
“So far this season, we’ve been able to be a pretty decent blocking team considering we don’t spend that much time talking about it,” Speraw said. “Against a team like this, that relies on attacking the block, we were solid and fundamental.”
