UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Three times UCLA men’s volleyball was on the brink of a berth into the national championship match. Three times Ohio State foiled the Bruins’ efforts, refusing to let the final match point slip away.
And, in each of those three match points, the season seemed to hang in an ever-more-precarious balance.
The final blow was a blistering ace that careened off freshman libero Davis Gillett’s arms and spun into the crowd. Crimson jerseys spilled onto the court, Ohio State coach Pete Hanson unleashed a ferocious yell and the young UCLA players looked anywhere but back at their battlefield of missed opportunities.
It was stunning. Silencing. Devastating. Raw. And yet none of this is final.
For this year, yes, but this is far from the end for this group of Bruins, which will not graduate a single starter heading into the 2017 season.
One of the strongest voices of hope and promise came from the other bench, from Hanson, who offered his own perspective.
“They’ll be back, they’re gonna learn from this and they’ll be back,” the rival coach said. “We went through that … so I think it’s sometimes just how you catch them and what cycles programs are in.”
Back in 2014, the Buckeyes had a down year dropped into an otherwise successful stretch, finishing below .500 and failing to make it out of the opening round of that year’s conference tournament. The 2015 Bruins were the same, another young squad that lacked much veteran leadership.
Following the 2014 season, Ohio State rebounded and saw improvement across the board. The final result – making it just one round further in the conference tournament – wasn’t all-too-impressive, but the building blocks had been put in place.
In this cycle of volleyball program recovery, UCLA finds itself firmly in the second stage. The Bruins’ rebound year was more successful than the Buckeyes’ last year, and the third year remains on the horizon.
“Obviously I am happy with the direction everything’s going, it’s just a little frustrating in this moment,” coach John Speraw said after Thursday night’s upset loss. “I thought we had a really nice shot at (a title) this year … but we’re gonna get better, we’re gonna learn from this and grow from it.”
If anybody came into 2016 with low expectations following the team’s 13-14 record last year, they were quickly corrected by UCLA’s 10-match win streak to open the year. A number of nonconference wins, including a four-set takedown of Ohio State back in February, highlighted the early season schedule.
That streak elevated the Bruins to the No. 1 spot in the country and guaranteed they’d be part of the national conversation. A number of players thrived on that stage, emerging as dangerous weapons for a UCLA team that was exceptionally balanced as far as individual contributions went.
Sophomore outside hitter Jake Arnitz increased his total swings from 550 during his freshman campaign to just over 750 this season. Along the way, he was able to hit .313 compared to .227 a year ago, and he easily overtook fellow sophomore outside hitter JT Hatch as the team’s offensive leader.
A new face who volleyball fans nationwide quickly became familiar with was Micah Ma’a. The freshman setter/hitter’s versatility, combined with junior setter Hagen Smith’s ability to do more than just set allowed Speraw to experiment a little bit with the team’s systems. The 6-2 offense, which was utilized fully in the college game for the first time in decades, gave the team something to focus on early in the year and allowed the Bruins to baffle opponents with their unique scheme.
Ma’a would lead the team with 58 aces, nearly 20 more than the next closest teammate. His electric serves all but disappeared, though, as the team entered the conference playoffs. While the jump serve showed up again in a tamer form in the final match of the year, the difficulties underscored the larger serving concerns for UCLA.
Serving was a give and take. With a plethora of aces and tricky serves came error after error. There were 27 in the MPSF championship against BYU, there were 26 in the NCAA semifinal against Ohio State. Speraw acknowledged in the season’s final press conference that serving was ultimately his team’s undoing.
Despite some struggles, the youthful Bruins showed a composure on the national stage that would seemingly befit a veteran group like the Buckeyes better than the upstart kids from SoCal.
“It is exceptionally difficult to win this thing the first time you come here,” Speraw said. “Historically we’ve seen teams that didn’t win it one year come back and get it the next because they grow from that experience – hopefully that’ll be the experience for us.”
When he speaks of history, though, Speraw isn’t going all too far back. His UC Irvine team couldn’t quite win the whole thing in 2006, but the Anteaters took NCAA titles in 2007 and 2009. The next generation captured another in 2012, marking Speraw’s third as a head coach.
It’s fair to wonder how many people would have predicted a Final Four finish from UCLA following one of the program’s worst years ever. Nonetheless, this wasn’t a team that was going to limit itself – no matter the potential heartbreak that exposed the Bruins to come playoff time.
“At the end of the day, I can be extremely proud of what my teammates and I have accomplished this year,” said junior Mitch Stahl. “Getting to the Final Four with the teams in the nation this year was not an easy task.”
It took a trio of Long Beach State takedowns to get UCLA as far as it got, while the Bruins endured a trio of defeats at the hands of the BYU Cougars. It took early season victories on the East Coast, a rematch win over Stanford and plenty of growth on the part of this new group.
And yet, when UCLA needed to take something most, it couldn’t – three straight times. But, with another year, Speraw can keep it simple and hope his team’s trajectory will continue to go up.
“I’m looking forward to seeing if we can come back next year and play a little better,” he said.