At this point in the season, any win for the UCLA men’s
volleyball team is an accomplishment.
Although it took five games to defeat No. 10 Loyola-Chicago, No.
9 UCLA snapped a three-game losing streak in which it was swept in
all three losses.
The 30-32, 30-27, 30-26, 28-30, 15-11 victory prevented the
Bruins (11-9) from having their longest losing streak in seven
years. With momentum now in their favor, the Bruins aim to continue
their success tonight against Lewis University at Pauley
Pavilion.
“Unfortunately, a win over Loyola-Chicago in five is a big
win for us right now,” freshman Sean O’Malley said.
“Beating them definitely gives us momentum for
(tonight’s) match, and any kind of positive feedback is
really good for us at this point.”
In the midseason non-conference matchup, the Bruins did not
establish themselves as the dominant team until the final
moments.
In Game 5, UCLA hit .889 with eight kills on nine swings, and
had its only two aces of the night. Junior Steve Klosterman put up
the final points for the Bruins, following up an ace with a kill to
seal the match.
Klosterman finished with 26 kills (.382) ““ one short of
his career record of 27, which he set last week against
Pepperdine.
“It was another big night by Steve Klosterman,”
coach Al Scates said. “He’s really stepped up lately
and has been playing to his potential.”
Despite their strong finish, the Bruins struggled early against
the Ramblers (15-3).
In Game 1, the Bruins seemed to lack focus, occasionally letting
the ball drop in the middle of several players, and fell behind
24-17. An 8-2 run got UCLA back into the game, but the Bruins were
unable to take the lead after senior David Russell tied the match
at 30-30 with a kill.
“After losing the first game, we all just decided that we
couldn’t lose to Loyola and extend our losing streak,”
Klosterman said. “I’ve never lost four matches in a row
at UCLA, and didn’t want it to happen now. So we all tried to
focus and use our recent losses as motivation.”
The Bruins came back in the second game, hitting .429 with 21
kills behind six kills from Klosterman. UCLA also got 19 digs in
the game, led by six from sophomore Eric Chaghouri.
In Game 3, the Bruins continued to play with focus and
confidence, cruising to a 30-26 win with four total blocks and a
.432 hitting percentage.
The Ramblers came back in Game 4, limiting the Bruins to .214
hitting. However, UCLA rebounded in Game 5 and ultimately walked
away with the victory.
“We had a lot higher energy than we usually do,”
O’Malley said. “We didn’t choke at the end of
games, which is something that we’ve done lately. (Loyola) is
a good ball club and we had to work really hard to get the win, but
we won.”
This is the kind of win UCLA men’s volleyball has gotten
used to claiming lately, but that doesn’t diminish its
importance to the team right now.