One had food poisoning and another had not started in two
months. But nothing could stop seniors Damien Scott and Dennis
Gonzalez from giving the UCLA men’s volleyball
team the emotional boost necessary to come back from an early
deficit in last Saturday’s upset over
Hawai’i. “Damien was such an
inspiration, and Dennis came in and gave us
leadership,†senior David Russell said.
“Their intensity was so high because they know
their careers are over if we lose.†Only a day before
the MPSF quarterfinal match in Honolulu, it was doubtful that Scott
would be able to make an impact for the Bruins. Scott got food
poisoning before leaving for Hawaii on Thursday and vomited six
times on the plane before spending all of Friday in bed
recuperating. However, Scott went out on Saturday night and
contributed seven kills and an ace. “Damien is
the captain and deserved to play even if he was not at full
strength,†coach Al Scates said. “He
was also passing so well that I left him in.†More than
racking up stats, Scott knew he had to be out on the court to
encourage his team even though he was still weak from the bout of
food poisoning. “I had very little energy when
the game started, but I wanted to be there for the team and put out
all the effort and energy I had,†Scott said.
“As the game progressed, I started to get more
energy and was more effective.†Another player who
added senior leadership against the Warriors was Gonzalez, who has
come back from an injury to provide solid play off the bench. He
replaced freshman setter Matt Wade in the second game and went on
to run the offense with 45 set assists. Like Scott, though,
Gonzalez’s biggest contribution might have been
the energy he infused in the Bruins after the team dropped the
first game 18-30. “Dennis has barely played
lately, but he always adds a huge emotional level when he is on the
court,†Scates said. “He draws energy
from the crowd, and doesn’t care if they are
booing him like they were (in Hawaii).â€
HEAVY LIFTING: UCLA says it knows the secret
about how to be successful late in the season: conditioning hard
even during league games. The Bruins’ 10-game
winning streak is a testament to the success of
Scates’ philosophy of including heavy weight
lifting and conditioning sessions even late into the season.
“We are in better shape than anybody in the
country, so as the matches go on, we get better while other teams
are getting tired,†Scates said. “We
kept lifting heavy through March, and maybe we lost some games then
because of that, but now we are winning. We
don’t have to win the league, but I want the
team strong at the end of the season because the postseason and a
NCAA Title are what matters.†UCLA is confident they
can beat any team because they have the endurance to win the long
rallies and tough fifth games that teams will face on the road to
the championship. “We are the hardest-working
team out there, and we just need to make the game go long and
weather the storm because we will come out on top in long
matches,†Russell said.
QUICK SETS: The Bruins are ranked No. 5 in this
week’s AVCA Coaches Poll. The ranking is
UCLA’s highest since being tagged as the No. 2
team in the first week of the season. Two Bruins received MPSF
honors this week, as sophomore libero Tony Ker was named to the
All-MPSF Third Team while junior opposite Steve Klosterman received
an Honorable Mention.