Gauchos suspected of tanking to volleyball
By Eric Branch
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Did they or didn’t they?
The fifth-ranked UC Santa Barbara men’s volleyball team looked
about two steps away from comatose in their 15-6, 15-10, 15-5
pummeling at the hands of top-ranked UCLA last night in Pauley
Pavilion.
In fact, their play was so uninspired that the Bruins suspected
them of tanking the match.
For his part, Gaucho quick hitter Robert Treahy seemed
completely miffed about what happened to his team.
"I don’t know what happened," Treahy said. "People’s minds
weren’t in the game. We came out flat and got our asses
kicked."
If Treahy is still looking for answers, UCLA swing hitter Kevin
Wong has his own idea about what transpired on the other side of
the net.
"I think they were tanking all night long," Wong said.
Wong’s fellow teammate, setter Stein Metzger, was willing to
give the Gauchos the benefit of the doubt. However, he had a theory
of his own.
"It seemed like everyone’s shoulder on their team was hurting,"
Metzger said.
Whether or not the Gauchos (16-8 overall, 13-5 Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation) were tanking or merely suffering a sudden rash
of bum wings is not known. However, the evidence points towards the
latter theory. UCSB clinched second-place in the division and a
spot in the MPSF playoffs last week. With a likely rematch with
UCLA (23-1, 16-0) ahead in the playoffs at the end of the month,
the Gauchos were not eager to tip their hand.
Their lack of motivation was reflected in the stat sheet as they
hit an anemic .119, piled up 32 hitting errors and posted a grand
total of four blocks.
"I don’t know what they were doing," UCLA head coach Al Scates
said. "They came out in a strange rotation they’ve never played
before. I think they were just sandbagging. They just didn’t have
their usual enthusiasm tonight."
The Gauchos’ lack of spunk was evidenced by opposite Amaury
Velasco. While the emotional Velasco did manage one trademark
outburst, getting a yellow card after punishing the net with a
right hook, he remained strangely silent the majority of the
night.
"He was a little quiet," Scates said. "That was another hint
(they were sandbagging). I’ve never seen him so quiet before."
Then again, after racking up five kills, hitting .095 and
recording zero blocks, Velasco didn’t have many opportunities to
get his mouth in motion.
"In order to talk you have to do something on the court and he
didn’t have a good game," quick hitter Jeff Nygaard (team-high 14
kills) said.
Another Gaucho who didn’t have much to say was head coach Ken
Preston. After hearing the theory that his squad was simply saving
itself for the playoffs, he merely smiled. When pressed for an
answer he paused dramatically and answered curtly.
"Uh huh," he said.
Case closed.