The downward slide for UCLA men’s volleyball continued Saturday night as the team looked dismal yet again on the road.
The No. 9 Bruins (7-10, 4-7 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) were swept by the No. 12 Tritons (7-9, 3-8 MPSF) of UC San Diego 30-21, 30-23, 33-31 at RIMAC Arena.
“We didn’t hit well,” said coach Al Scates. “We didn’t have any firepower. We hit only .120.” The UCLA offense sputtered as UCSD managed a .380 hitting clip. The Tritons were led by sophomore outside hitter Will Ehrman’s 14 kills (.458) along with junior outside hitter Jason Spangler’s 12 kills (.259).
UCSD’s sophomore middle blocker Calvin Ross tallied six blocks as the Tritons out-blocked UCLA 12.0 to 10.5.
“We have to hit about .300 to compete in this league” Scates said. “I think we are hitting about .270 overall. On the road it’s nothing like that.”
Senior opposite Sean O’Malley paced the Bruins with 11 kills, hitting .238, and freshman opposite Kyle Caldwell added six kills. Caldwell was inserted into the game to cover another freshman opposite, Jack Polales, who had trouble putting a ball down. Freshman quick hitter Nick Vogel and junior outside hitter Brett Perrine both hit in the negative.
“We didn’t have any heat on the outside,” Scates said. “San Diego was really fired up. They kept playing better and better.”
The road has been very unfriendly to the Bruins, as they dropped to 1-6 away from Westwood after Saturday’s loss. This was only the second win against UCLA in school history for UCSD as UCLA led the series 45-1 entering the match. UCSD’s only win came last year in the same building.
The recent loss puts the Bruins in eighth place in the MPSF, on the bubble for the conference tournament. Only eight teams make the playoffs, so UCLA needs to at least maintain their spot in the standings. “We’re going to have to play a lot better to make playoffs,” Scates said. “If we lose to a team below us (in the standings), we are not going to make it.”
The Bruins are currently on a four-game skid, and it’s apparent that injuries have taken their toll.
Junior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia returned to action but could only be used as a substitute server due to a healing ankle sprain.
Another outside hitter, redshirt junior Jeff Woodley, went down in the first game with a sprained ankle. This was only his second match of the season after coming back from shoulder surgery in the fall.
The combination of athletes not staying healthy and lackluster performances has moved mutiple players onto the active roster and given those on the bench plenty of playing time this season.
“We’re getting younger all the time,” Scates said. “The older guys aren’t doing so well. Freshmen are playing, and they are getting better.”
The Bruins are in search of something to fire up the squad in order to get back in the win column.
“We can’t wait for guys to come back,” Scates said “We can’t wait that long anymore. Whoever we have is going to have to step up.”