The Bruins set themselves up for the same old story to
unfold.
The UCLA men’s volleyball team lost Wednesday night to
Lewis, dropping yet another match to a school it traditionally
beats. The Bruins are also now winless in five tries in five-game
matches.
But something new did actually come out of No. 5 Lewis’
25-30, 30-26, 25-30, 30-25, 17-15 edging of No. 9 UCLA.
The starting job of UCLA senior setter and team captain Rich
Nelson is no longer safe. Redshirt freshman setter Dennis Gonzalez
started for Nelson against Lewis and, in his first significant
playing time of the season, played well.
“Yes, we have a controversy,” head coach Al Scates
said. “Dennis looked really good and did a fine
job.”
Gonzalez set his team to a ho-hum .262 hitting percentage, but
four Bruins were able to record at least 10 kills. Sophomore
opposite hitter Brennan Prahler, starting for injured freshman Matt
McKinney, led UCLA (11-9) by slamming a career-high 18 kills.
Junior middle blocker Chris Peña added 17.
“My team gave me a lot of confidence,” Gonzalez
said. “Rich is the leader of this team, and I’ll be
there if the team needs me.”
Scates replaced a tiring Gonzalez in Game 4 with Nelson and gave
them equal time in Game 5.
Lewis (14-3) saved two match points as sophomore outside hitter
Gustavo Meyer recorded two of his match-high 25 kills. Junior
opposite hitter Fabiano Barreto, playing on his 24th birthday, then
sliced through and ate up the Bruin block on consecutive rallies to
give the Flyers the win.
Lewis hit .333 on the night and also out-blocked (18.5-13) and
out-dug (42-39) UCLA.
“We couldn’t stop their tendencies, and that was
it,” Scates said.
Scates said he did not know which setter he would start against
UC Irvine on Friday.
Also unclear is the status of third-string setter Jimmy
Sepulveda, who was upset that he wasn’t getting an
opportunity to play against Lewis. He told assistant coach Brian
Rofer after practice on Tuesday that he was quitting the team.
After talking to Scates, however, the sophomore is now not so
sure of his decision.
“(Sepulveda) could be in practice on Monday,” Scates
said. “He has a lot of fighting spirit. We’d love to
have him here if he wants to be here. Everybody loves
Jimmy.”
The little-used Sepulveda is by far and away the most spirited
of the business-like Bruins.
“Jimmy is the heart of the team,” said Gonzalez, a
fellow Puerto Rican.
Now UCLA just has to figure out who its starting setter will
be.