The UCLA men’s volleyball team found itself in a familiar situation after falling behind UC Santa Barbara on Friday night.
Two weeks ago the Bruins had to overcome a two-set difference in a comeback victory against the Gauchos. In this rematch they were not going to make things harder for themselves.
No. 8 UCSB came out firing in the first set, but No. 5 UCLA kept its cool and responded by winning the next three. The Bruins ultimately defeated the Gauchos by a final score of 3-1.
“After the first game we just realized we had to come out and play a lot harder,” junior Robart Page said.
UCLA set the tone for the rest of the match by winning the second set 25-17. Redshirt sophomore middle blocker Clayton Paullin had several crucial blocks during the second set.
This match was UCLA’s first four-set victory of the season. The team’s performance was entirely different from Tuesday night’s against Long Beach. It improved in almost every aspect of the game as the Bruins hit for an impressive 0.465 percentage and also had 6.5 more blocks than UCSB on the night.
“I thought we played with a better sense of purpose. Offensively we had better production from our outside hitters and in general we played a higher level of volleyball,” said coach John Speraw.
The Bruins had one of their best offensive nights, and a vital part of that was their serving. The Bruins recorded a total of 10 aces while the Gauchos only had four.
Friday night’s victory against UCSB put UCLA right back on track after a disappointing loss to Long Beach State.
“Everybody just had a great game. Now we have to get ready for our big game against Stanford,” junior outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga said.
The UCLA men’s volleyball team will hit the road again today to face Stanford at 7 p.m. This will be the second match of their three-match road trip.
The win against UCSB boosted UCLA’s confidence, but the team knows it will have to continue playing at a high level to beat Stanford.
“I think it is a really, really good win for us as a team just having it under our belt and stepping forward to play a better team (like) Stanford,” Page said.