It was a relaxed opening night at Pauley Pavilion, as UCLA men’s volleyball opened the year with a dominant exhibition sweep of British Columbia. But if the team’s performance is any indication, the Bruins will have a serious offensive attack in 2016.
The UCLA attackers hit .518 on the night – a higher percentage than any game in the entire 2015 season – and were especially strong in the middle of the court for all four sets of the night. While collegiate matches are normally best three out of five, the teams decided to play a fourth set since the Thunderbirds traveled from Canada for the exhibition.
Even with the added set, the No. 5 Bruins comfortably swept their international visitors (25-19, 25-15, 25-14, 25-15).
“I think we’re better than we were last year,” said coach John Speraw. “I think we have better ball control and set the ball better than we did last year, which are obviously two very important components to winning volleyball matches. … We know it won’t be like this every night and we know we have a really tough road trip ahead.”
Junior middle blocker Mitch Stahl, one of the team’s few veteran leaders, led the Bruins with 11 kills on an .846 hitting percentage. The Thunderbirds had few answers defensively, often getting caught out of system after a UCLA attack.
“Our volleyball IQ collectively is much higher than it has been in the past few years. Even though we don’t have any seniors we play like a well-experienced team,” Stahl said. “(The freshmen are) a well-seasoned group of guys coming in coupled with last year’s freshman group that are seasoned from a year there, and then my class has been around for three years so we’ve been through the grind.”
UCLA’s squad features 12 underclassmen with redshirt junior middle blocker John Zappia being the team’s most experienced player. Only two players from the 2015 team graduated – Trent Kersten being the lone starter.
“I think the dynamic has improved – the people we have involved, the focus that the guys have demonstrated, the leadership that we have on the volleyball court, the direction that the guys want to go is all the same one,” Speraw said. “I’m pleased with where we’re at as a program. I think we still need to continue to improve, get better and I think everybody’s pulling on the same rope.”
The 2015 team, which finished 13-14, dealt with a number of injuries that limited it last season, including an injury to junior Hagen Smith that sent the team’s setting position into flux. Smith started Sunday night’s match while splitting the duties with freshman Micah Ma’a, tallying 17 and 15 assists, respectively. Sophomore Eric Matheis, primarily Smith’s backup last year, found playing time in the fourth set.
Defensively, freshman libero Davis Gillett provided consistency in the backcourt with seven digs. Junior libero Jackson Bantle, the primary starter last year, came off the bench.
The Bruins were able to have a little fun in their exhibition match, but will immediately hit the road to officially open the 2016 season at No. 14 George Mason.
“I didn’t really take (the exhibition) as a lighter thing because we’re going to the East Coast in a couple days so I had to be prepared for that and mentally prepared for the season,” Gillett said. “I came in very focused on everything, even with the exhibition match I wanted to be steady with my game.”
