Volley varsity sweeps alum squad in three
By Eric Branch
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Well, even Dream Teams need to practice.
The UCLA men’s volleyball alumni team brought seven former
All-Americans, five present or current National Team members and
two past Olympians into the Wooden Center Friday night. However, at
some point during their 16-14, 15-8, 15-6 defeat to the varsity ,it
became obvious that they did not bring cohesiveness.
"That was one of the strongest teams they’ve ever put together,"
UCLA head coach Al Scates said of the squad which featured National
Team members Dan Landry and Mike Sealy. "But obviously it’s tough
to have any timing if you haven’t played together."
Headlined by beach legend Karch Kiraly, making his first-ever
return appearance, and coached by Sinjin Smith, the alumni managed
to jump out to a 6-1 first game lead. Scates thought his team might
have been admiring the players across the net rather than battling
them.
"I think we stood there and looked across at all these legends
and were a little tentative," Scates said. "But after that we got
into it and played well. It’s always good to outlast a veteran
team."
Sophomore opposite hitter Matt Noonan’s five kills keyed the
first game response. On the night, Noonan threw down a team-high 12
kills . On the other side of the net, Kiraly paced the alums with
five of his eight kills.
UCLA senior swing hitter Kevin Wong thought the presence of
Kiraly gave the match a regular season type intensity.
"We were all fired up to go up against Karch," Wong said. "He’s
such a legend. He just brought everyone’s intensity up."
For his part, Kiraly, playing indoors for the first time in
three years, felt somewhat out of place in his new
surroundings.
"It felt a little awkward out there," Kiraly said. "Actually a
lot awkward. I felt like I stunk up the court, but it was still
fun."
The varsity squad grabbed control of the match in the second
game behind five kills apiece by senior swing hitter Erik Sullivan
(8 kills) and senior quick hitter Jeff Nygaard (10 kills). The
second team mopped up in the third game as freshman quick hitter
James Turner led the backups with four kills and two blocks.
Afterwards, the alumns were not overly pleased after having
their two match winning streak snapped.
"Those guys hate to lose," Scates said. "I was amazed that (the
alumni) even got together for the group photo after the match. I
thought Sealy was about to run out the door."
"I felt like I should play in one of these before my career was
over," Kiraly said. "It was just great to come out and see everyone
again. It would have been nice to win, but I enjoyed competing.
That’s what being a Bruin is all about."