The No. 8 UCLA men’s volleyball team will travel south tonight to take on No. 5 UC Irvine at the Bren Center.
The Anteaters (7-2, 3-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) have already defeated the Bruins (4-4, 2-2) this year 3-0 at the UCSB Collegiate Invitational. In its victory, the Anteaters hit .388 with 11 aces compared to the Bruins .196 hitting percentage.
“(The Anteaters) have two great opposites,” coach Al Scates said. “They probably have two of the best opposites in the league. (Redshirt freshman Carson) Clark played against us in Santa Barbara and just went off.”
Clark comes into the match ranked in the top 10 in four of the MPSF statistical lists including hitting percentage, kills, service aces and points.
The other opposite is senior Jon Steller who was just named co-MPSF Player of the Week. He is coming off a week where he hit .403 and had 35 kills.
UCLA earned a 3-1 win over Cal Baptist on Wednesday night in which the Bruins struggled with blocking in the first set. After UCLA lost the first set they changed the lineup and were successful with redshirt junior outside hitter Brett Perrine.
After Perrine entered the game, the Bruins turned it around and went on to win the next three games straight, including a 30-17 win in the second.
“I saw the best blocking of the year,” Scates said, “so it’s encouraging.”
This aspect of their game will be tested against the Anteaters who top the MPSF list for most team blocks, averaging 3.61 per game.
UCI’s two conference losses this season come from No. 2 Cal State Northridge and No. 7 Long Beach State. UCLA has also dropped matches to these same two teams.
The Bruins continue to struggle in setting a lineup, and it is still uncertain who will be starting for the Bruins or who will end up on the court at the end of the night.
Even with continuous shuffling of the lineup, UCLA players, including senior opposite Sean O’Malley and freshman opposite Kyle Caldwell, have still managed to put big numbers up, with O’Malley hitting .500 and Caldwell hitting .562 against Cal Baptist.
“I’m happy O’Malley hit .500,” Scates said. “He’s right back on track.”
The Bruins are looking to take things one match at a time and hope that tonight will be their first conference road win of the season. UCI is always a tough adversary but the Bruins will stay focused on passing well and blocking well and Scates is confident that his team “will set up anything in particular we have to do.”