Steve Klosterman just kept getting kill after kill. And they
weren’t your ordinary kills, either ““ on multiple
occasions his kills hit opponents with so much force that they
stumbled and took a couple of steps backward in visible pain and
confusion.
The UCLA junior opposite had 27 kills in all Wednesday night, a
career-high for him and easily the most by any Bruin this year. He
was simply dominating.
But his team still lost.
UCLA didn’t even win a game, being swept by Pepperdine 3-0
(30-28, 30-28, 30-22).
“We were losing and someone had to do something,”
Klosterman said. “That’s the toughest part. We
didn’t even win a game. That’s a real
heartbreaker.”
It was the first time the two teams had met since last
year’s national championship game, where the Waves beat the
Bruins in a five-game match.
“I had a lot of built-up feelings about last year’s
loss,” Klosterman said. “I’m never going to
forget that, no matter what.”
Pepperdine leads the country in blocks and is currently ranked
No. 3 in the country. The Waves have stopped and contained some of
the nation’s best players.
But they couldn’t stop Klosterman. He came into the match
averaging only 9 kills for every three games he played. In the
three-game match, Klosterman got 27, triple his average.
“Klosterman just went off tonight,” redshirt senior
quick hitter Nick Scheftic said. “I haven’t seen him
like that. It was pretty amazing.”
Klosterman didn’t get his career high against some
mediocre or low-level team like most players do, saving his best
performance for the defending national champions. And he got it in
three games ““ his previous high, 24, came in a four-game
match against UC Santa Barbara.
“This is the best I’ve ever seen Klosterman
play,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “This is the best
he’s played at UCLA.”
But the rest of his team didn’t step up to the level
Klosterman did.
The rest of his team combined for only 20 kills and made 13
errors, hitting a measly .125, compared to Klosterman’s 27
kills, 4 errors and .511 hitting average.
Scates had Klosterman start at the opposite position for the
first time this season instead of opposite hitter, where Klosterman
had been playing.
“I knew he’d get more chances there,” Scates
said. “I’m very proud of the way he played.”
Both Game 1 and Game 2 were very close at the end, being tied
26-26 and 28-28, respectively, before Pepperdine pulled away.
“Those two games could’ve gone either way,”
Klosterman said.
“We’re just not able to finish against the top teams
yet,” Scates said.
In Game 3, the Bruins started slow and were never close in the
end.
The loss pushed UCLA to 5-6 in the Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation and down to 10-8 overall. The Bruins are now seventh in
the conference halfway through the MPSF season, and only the top
eight of 12 qualify for the MPSF Tournament.
“We’re just trying to get to the playoffs,”
Scates said. Once we’re there, we only have to win five in a
row. Right now, we’re a borderline team. We have to get
better.”