UCLA men’s volleyball traveled to Stanford on Friday night in a last-ditch effort to sneak into the 2015 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.
There was nothing sneaky, however, about the visiting Bruins’ 3-0 sweep of the Cardinal.
No. 12 UCLA (13-13, 9-13 MPSF) dominated the entire court, delivering one of its most decisive victories of the year in its regular season finale (25-18, 25-19, 25-20).
With the win, the team clinched the eighth and final spot in the conference tournament, eliminating No. 14 Stanford (10-18, 7-15) from the playoff race in the process.
The offense – a source of frustration at times during the 2015 season – had no trouble finding its rhythm on Friday. Four Bruin hitters had hitting percentages of .333 or higher, and the offense as a whole combined to hit at a staggering .430 clip.
Coach John Speraw attributed some of that improvement in part to freshman setter Eric Matheis’ continued integration into the offense. After UCLA lost sophomore setter Hagen Smith to a hand injury during spring break, Matheis has stepped in and started the final seven matches of the season.
“I think it was just a matter of him getting comfortable with the guys on the team and learning how to set each individual hitter,” Speraw said. “Since he’s been able to do that over the last few weeks, you’ve seen our respective hitting percentage increase.”
Matheis had 45 assists and contributed three block assists on the defensive side of the net. He, too, emphasized the importance of getting more time with every Bruin hitter.
“Practices have been getting better and better, we’re getting a lot of reps and with a lot of different guys,” Matheis said. “I feel like we’re clicking now and we’ve gotten into the offense really well. It showed in our win tonight.”
The match was under Bruin control from start to finish. The visitors trailed 2-1 early in the first set but quickly took the lead and never trailed again. The final two sets were wire-to-wire wins in which the Cardinal only managed to get three or more points in a row twice.
By limiting any sustained damage, UCLA protected itself from dangerous momentum swings Friday. Those long runs, while bad against any team, only become costlier against powerhouses like first-round opponent No. 4 UC Irvine (25-4, 19-3).
Freshman outside hitter J.T. Hatch emphasized the team’s common mantra of sticking to its fundamentals as the Bruins now enter the playoffs.
“We just have to keep doing the basics,” Hatch said. “A lot of our offense is attributed to our passing. If we keep passing well, that leaves a lot of options for us on the other end.”
While the fundamentals were present at Stanford, it remains to be seen whether they will appear when competition improves Saturday in Irvine.
UCLA faces a tough reality: It must find a way to overcome its 1-13 record against higher-ranked opponents, including two losses against Irvine. The Bruins are still young and inexperienced, and they won’t be able to shed that label until they prove they can beat the elites.
Friday’s win allows them to start that next step now.
“I think we’re bringing some confidence forward – that’s the most important thing,” Speraw said. “We’re gonna play a really tough team that has a lot of seniors and experienced guys on the court, but we’ll just have to go out and play loose and free and bring that confidence with us, knowing that we can beat a better team.”