It’s barely midseason for the men’s volleyball team,
but the Bruins are already feeling a sense of urgency. Only the top
eight teams in the 12-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
compete in the league’s postseason playoffs. No. 7 UCLA (7-6,
2-4 MPSF) is currently ninth in the league, but will have a chance
to move up in the standings this week as it faces off against
unranked Stanford tonight in Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m. The Cardinal
(4-10, 2-6) along with the Pacific Tigers, whom the Bruins will
play Friday, hold the eleventh and tenth spots, respectively.
“If the playoffs were held today, we wouldn’t even be a
playoff team,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “It’s
mandatory that we beat both of these teams, otherwise our chances
for the playoffs would be really hurt.” The Bruin players
have the same sense of urgency. “(This week’s matches)
are very important,” sophomore libero Tony Ker said.
“If we wanna be able to make the playoffs, we need to win the
next couple of games at home so that we can have a little bit of
leniency on the road.” “We have to win these so we can
get up to .500, so we can’t drop anymore,” junior
opposite Steve Klosterman said. “Every game is the most
important of the season.” Before the Bruins can focus on
beating the Cardinal, however, they have to worry about not getting
beaten by themselves. According to Scates, the team’s main
problem is with unforced hitting errors. “We didn’t hit
the ball to land in the court,” said Scates of last
weekend’s loss to Cal State Northridge. “We were trying
to hit the ball off of people’s hands, off people’s
fingers, and we were missing. We have to challenge the block; we
have to hit it high, flat into the block. Right now, except for
David Russell and Paul George, that isn’t happening.”
On the defensive side of the net, the Bruins will need to step up
its blocking, according to Scates. “Many years, we’ve
led the league in blocking,” Scates said. “This
year’s team is way down. Certain individuals are not taking
the part of the court that they should when they’re blocking.
(We’re) working on getting over the net very quickly before
the hitter contacts the ball.” Blocking may prove crucial on
Thursday, especially when Stanford’s Ben Reddy sets the ball.
The senior outside hitter leads the Cardinal with 4.43 kills per
game, which is fourth highest in the league. “We’ll be
keying in on him,” Scates said. “That’s the guy
that’s gonna get the most sets.” Reddy is also fourth
in the league with 5.18 points per game and commands the
ace-leading Cardinal with a .500 aces per game average.
INJURY UPDATE: As of Tuesday, redshirt senior setter Dennis
Gonzalez is still slightly hampered by a hand injury from practice
last week. “Dennis’ X-rays were negative (Monday), so
he doesn’t have any broken bones,” Scates said.
“We’re just waiting for the swelling and the pain in
his hand to go down.” Meanwhile redshirt freshman middle
blocker Jamie Diefenbach, who had arthroscopic surgery on his knee
in January, is making strides in practice. “I put him on the
second court where he can go at his own pace,” Scates said.
“He’s not ready to go full speed yet. When the trainer
gives me the OK I’ll put him back (on the first
court).” Having Diefenbach back in the lineup would likely
put the Bruins back at the emotional high they were at in the fall.
“Diefenbach’s back into practice right now and you can
already tell the energy level is back up in the gym,” Ker
said.