The UCLA men’s volleyball team’s serving strategy is the very definition of high-risk, high-reward.
The Bruins (24-5) have accumulated 203 total service aces and 1.9 per set. Those stats are good enough to be second and third in the country, respectively.
However, they have also posted 484 service errors in comparison to the 381 that opposing teams have committed against them.
There’s a reason for that, and it all comes down to the unwavering strategy of coach John Speraw.
“Hit it hard every time,” Speraw said when asked what the team’s serving strategy is. “I want them to understand exactly where they’re going with the ball, be relentless and attack.”
In other words, UCLA goes all out.
The Bruins are led by freshman setter Micah Ma’a who has posted 56 aces this season. Ma’a is behind only two players for the all-time single-season aces list.
Two players from the 2000 UCLA squad currently hold the numbers one and two spots on the list, with Mark Williams having 63 aces and Brandon Taliaferro having 59 aces.
Ma’a’s serving success has been, in part, because of how hard he serves. However, in recent matches, Ma’a has mixed up the hard serves with more controlled ones.
“Personally it’s been a grind,” Ma’a said. “Jump serving takes a pretty big toll on your body. I don’t feel like I have quite the same amount of athleticism, same amount of gas, on my high-jump. So I’ve just been trying to mix it up in hopes to be effective without having the major tax on (my) body.”
Other major contributors to the serving machine that is UCLA are sophomore outside hitter JT Hatch and junior middle blocker Mitch Stahl. Hatch has tallied 37 aces thus far and is starting to come into a powerful serving form, while the veteran Stahl has posted 29 of his own.
Even though aces are a flashy way to get points, Speraw insists that aces are not the goal of his serving strategy.
“What you’re trying to achieve is a ball at the 10-foot line,” Speraw said. “Once you get a ball to 10, 15-feet, that’s where games are won and lost.”
As the Bruins prepare to dive into the final rounds of the MPSF playoffs, they will clash with teams that have kept pace or even out-served them.
The first hump for UCLA to overcome, though, will be the No. 3-seeded Long Beach State.
The Bruins defeated the 49ers twice during the regular season, but they kept pace in regards to serving.
During the first match, the visiting 49ers had a higher serving percentage than the home team, but during the second match both teams had similar stat lines when it came to aces and service errors.
If UCLA is able to beat Long Beach State they will, in all likelihood, play against No. 1 seed BYU.
The Cougars are one of the few teams that actually out-served the Bruins this season.
During UCLA’s two-match home stand against BYU, the first match saw relatively even stat lines, but during the second match, the difference was stark.
Both teams had nine service aces, but the Cougars bested the Bruins in regards to service errors and percentage.
The visitors from Provo, Utah, only had nine service errors, compared to UCLA’s 20, and they served at a .904 clip as UCLA stumbled to a .770 line.
So as the Bruins travel to Provo to decide their fate for this season, they will be tested on all fronts – even the one they are most comfortable with.