It may have been a consolation win, but in the eyes of the UCLA
men’s volleyball team, Friday’s epic five-game victory
over Hawai’i in the finals of the Outrigger Invitational was
in no way consolatory.
In fact, it was redemption.
The Bruins (5-2, 1-1 Pac-10) recovered from 4-0 and 14-13
deficits in the fifth game to defeat the Warriors 30-26, 30-26,
25-30, 27-30, 16-14 despite losing the overall tournament title to
Hawai’i.
Hawai’i (3-2, 1-1) won the overall title because they were
8-3 overall in games during the three-day tournament, while the
Bruins were only 6-5.
“It was a big victory, because we had lost a couple in a
row,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “The fact that
Hawai’i won the overall title was not important, because
Hawai’i is one of the better teams in the nation, and we just
needed a victory before opening up home play against (No. 2) BYU
this week.”
In the match, the Bruins were led by senior setter Dennis
Gonzalez, who was named the tournament’s MVP, and tied the
fifth game at 14-14 with a push shot when the Rainbow Warriors had
match point.
After the game was tied at 14-14, freshman outside hitter Sean
O’Malley hit a striking kill from the left side to give the
Bruins a one-point lead. UCLA finally won the match when
Hawai’i opposite hitter Lauri Hakala hit a crossing shot out
of bounds.
“They were the favorite to win tonight, and they had just
beat two teams 3-0, 3-0,” Scates said. “And for us to
win under those circumstances is just great.”
At first, the Bruins looked like they would never have to go to
a decisive fifth game. The Bruins played exceptionally in the first
two games, hitting over .350 in both games, and outside hitter
Steve Klosterman was finally getting in a groove, hitting .500,
after coming back from an injury
But Klosterman, and fellow outside hitter Damien Scott had to
come out prior to game 3 because of injuries, and fatigue and the
Warriors got back in the game.
“I thought Steve Klosterman played very well and started
blocking the way I wanted him to,” Scates said. “Its
unfortunate that he and Damien had to come out because we really
missed them.”
In the third and fourth game, without Scott and Klosterman, the
Bruins were overpowered as Hawai’i brought in middle blocker
Jake Schud, and the Bruins had no response.
The momentum carried on into the fifth game as the Bruins
trailed 6-1, but eventually UCLA went back to the hitters that had
carried them throughout the match, David Russell and Nick Scheftic,
and were able to make an impressive comeback.
On multiple occurrences Russell stuffed the Rainbow
Warriors’ outside hitters in the fifth game, finishing the
match with 14 kills, and a .394 hitting percentage. Scheftic was
likewise effective, recording 17 kills and .517 percentage while
slamming a kill to the Bruins a 13-11 lead in the final game.
“Both of those guys were putting the ball away, so Dennis
just kept feeding them,” Scates said. “Our middles
really carried us tonight.”
In the final points of the match, it was the tournament MVP, and
the Bruins’ senior leader, Gonzalez, who brought the Bruins
to victory.
He had a push over-shot at 14-13 to get the Bruins back in the
match, and set up O’Malley’s final kill at 14-14 to
give the Bruins the lead.
“That’s great that he was chosen as MVP,”
Scates said. “When he’s calling the plays, and making
the decisions, nobody knows who’s getting the ball but
Dennis.”
With their victory Friday, the Bruins beat the Rainbow Warriors
for the fourth consecutive time in the Outrigger Invitational,
capturing victories in 2000, 2001, and 2002 prior to this
weekend’s match.
With reports from Allison Ho, Bruin sports
contributor