In yet another preseason tune-up, the UCLA men’s volleyball team closed out the SAC Tournament Saturday with a win over a resilient Cal State Northridge team.
After beating Cal Baptist on Friday afternoon and losing to UC Santa Barbara in five sets Saturday afternoon, the Bruins were able to close out the tournament with a four-set victory over the Matadors.
Coach Al Scates said that one of Cal State Northridge’s strengths was its talented servers, but the Bruins were able to counter them.
“We passed their serves pretty well,” Scates said. “I put in the lineup with the best passers.”
After winning a close 30-27 first set, they won the second set 30-22. Senior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia said that the key to the second set victory was being able to hold off any momentum the Matadors may have generated.
“We didn’t let them get on runs,” Muagututia said.
Poor passing was the Bruins’ downfall in the third set. After UCLA led for most of the set, Cal State Northridge fought back to tie things at 27. CSUN closed out with a 3-1 run to take the set.
After a 22-22 tie in the fourth set, the Bruins jumped ahead for good, and Muagututia recorded a kill for the match-winning point.
“I like pressure situations,” Muagututia said. “I’m just fortunate it was over their seven-footer (middle blocker Jacek Ratajczak).”
Muagututia had never beaten CSUN in the SAC Tournament prior to Saturday’s game, and said he was happy to finally get a victory over the Matadors.
“It feels great,” Muagututia said. “They never stop fighting. They always seem to play their best match against us.”
Muagututia led the Bruins throughout the match. He recorded 20 kills, three blocks, and 15 digs.
“He did it all today,” said Scates of Muagututia,
Both Scates and Muagututia noted that passing and returning serves were areas of improvement for the team.
“Last year, our big problem was not returning serves hard enough,” said Muagututia.
Against CSUN, the Bruins looked like they had figured out those issues. The team is now off until after Christmas, when they play Winnipeg in an exhibition.