For a few jubilant moments, it appeared UCLA had the match.
Then a referee’s ruling and some inspired play from UC
Irvine turned things around as the No. 2 Anteaters defeated the
Bruins on Friday night at Pauley Pavilion, 30-26, 27-30, 21-30,
30-27, 16-14.
“It was a hard loss, a game that we could have, and should
have won,” UCLA libero Adam Shrader said.Â
With the No. 3 Bruins (3-2, 0-1 MPSF) leading 14-13 in the final
game of the match, the squad seemed to have the match won when a
referee ruled that one of the UCLA players had illegally touched
the net.
The Bruins’ euphoria abruptly ended as the point was
instead allocated to UCI. The partisan crowd roared their
disapproval as the team felt the win suddenly slip through their
fingers.Â
Now tied at 14-14 with UC Irvine (6-0, 1-0 MPSF) serving, the
Bruins shakily resumed their positions, but with their composure
shattered. The Bruins lost first one rally ““ then another,
and ultimately the match.Â
“We played hard, but the outcome wasn’t
right,” sophomore Gray Garrett said. “It wasn’t a
good way to start the season.”
What made it especially difficult was that it wasn’t the
first time the Bruins had lost to UCI this season, either. Irvine
head coach John Speraw, an assistant under UCLA head coach Al
Scates last year, has led the team to a quick start, stirring the
attention of the Bruins after the Anteaters beat them at the UCSB
tournament last week.
“I told (Speraw), “˜nice game.’ That’s
about it,” Scates said.
Also contributing to UCLA’s downfall on Friday was sloppy
passing that forced the team to rely on its attack from the
outside. The fact that sophomore Brennan Prahler missed the game
with a strained stomach muscle didn’t help either.
“It wasn’t very smooth on either side of the
court,” Speraw said. “We were fortunate to get away
with playing four or five games. We did a really good job
maintaining momentum and composure at match point.”
Like Speraw, Scates felt both teams could have played
better.
“We were a little slow in the middle, and we needed to get
our blocks up into the air a lot quicker,” Scates said.
“We just didn’t reach the caliber of our usual playing
abilities.”
Despite this, UCLA still made it apparent that it could have
been anyone’s game. Losing the first game, the Bruins came
back with a vengeance in the next two before losing their edge.
Sophomore outside hitters Garrett and Jonathan Acosta
impressively led the Bruins with 17 kills. Shrader also tallied a
match-high 22 digs.
The last game was, as Scates summed up, “like a coin
flip.”
The Bruins will play UCI again in March, but not before honing
their skills for another rematch.
“(UCI) had the passion to win,” sophomore Allan
Vince said. “This game knocked the rust off of us a little
bit, but it just fuels our fire. Next time we’ll give them
all we’ve got.”