After a core group of players graduates, it usually takes a
while for the team to begin playing at a consistently high level
again. The UCLA men’s volleyball team, however, seems to have
skipped the transition phase altogether. More than two months
before the season officially starts, the Bruins have already shown
their potential for greatness, taking three of four matches last
weekend in the Can-Am Challenge hosted by the University of
Alberta. “I’m pretty optimistic about this team,”
UCLA coach Al Scates said. “We’ve got some great senior
leadership, and then we have a lot of really good young players.
This is a team that only has two starters from last year, so weare
a young team, but I have a good feeling about them.” In the
tournament, UCLA faced four of the top teams from Canada, including
Trinity Western University, Ryerson University, the University of
British Columbia and the University of Alberta. With solid
performances from seniors Nick Scheftic, Damien Scott, and Dennis
Gonzalez, as well as redshirt freshmen Nathan Bosza and Jamie
Diefenbach, the Bruins cruised to victories over Trinity Western,
Ryerson and the University of British Columbia. In front of a
sold-out crowd, UCLA played the weekend’s most anticipated
match against the University of Alberta. Despite playing very well
against the defending Canadian Interuniversity Sports Champions,
the Bruins fell in five games, 25-17, 25-22, 20-25, 16-25, 13-15.
“That was a very good match against a great team, and it was
worth the trip just to see us play against those guys,”
Scates said. “That’s why we went up there. Alberta is
the best team in Canada, and I was happy with our performance. I
wasn’t happy we lost, but I learned a lot about our
team.” In the match, UCLA was led by Scheftic, who slammed 14
kills with no errors in only 22 attempts (.636). Scott and junior
Paul George also came up big, hitting 13 and 10 kills,
respectively, while leading the Bruins to a .387 hitting
percentage. If it weren’t for a controversial net call in
favor of Alberta with the score tied 12-12 in Game 5, UCLA might
have beaten the Golden Bears, a feat none of the other U.S. schools
even came close to. The Golden Bears easily dispatched of NCAA
defending champion Pepperdine, as well as Brigham Young and Lewis
universities. “We were really good at playing as a team and
playing aggressively,” Scheftic said. “We really
stepped up our game against Alberta. Our hitting and serving are
two aspects of our game that were really good, but we need to
improve our blocking.” The strongest part of the
Bruins’ play last weekend was their digging. Freshman libero
Tony Ker led UCLA with 23 total digs, for which he was named MVP of
the All-Tournament team. “I’ve never seen a libero
become the MVP of a tournament ever,” Scates said. “Our
digging is way ahead of last year’s team. We’re getting
good digs from everybody.”
FRESHMAN SUCCESS: A high point for the Bruins
last weekend was the play of Sean O’Malley. The true freshman
from Oak Park, Illinois, was one of the biggest recruits for UCLA,
and he cemented a starting role on the team with a solid
performance against the University of Alberta. The 6-foot-9-inch
outside hitter notched a team-high 16 kills against the Golden
Bears in only 26 swings (.538). “Sean has his best match
against the best team we faced, which is a good thing,”
Scates said. “He hits from a really high position, and hits
the ball in front of the diggers. His balls hit the floor without
anyone even touching them.” UCLA will rely on O’Malley
heavily this year to replace the offensive production of the four
graduated starters from last year’s team. “Sean has the
ability to become a really good player, but it’s up to him to
decide if he’s going to be a major player on this
team,” Scheftic said.
ALUMNI GAME: The annual UCLA alumni game is
this Sunday at 3 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins will face off
against some of the best players from recent Bruin teams, including
last season’s All-American Paul Johnson.