After a season of lofty expectations and No. 1 rankings, the
UCLA men’s volleyball team will finally be able to fulfill
both starting on Saturday. The second-seeded Bruins will square off
against seventh-seeded Cal State Northridge in the quarterfinal
match of the conference playoffs at Pauley Pavilion. The Bruin
players, however, have much more than the Matadors on their mind.
“The postseason is much more than this Saturday,”
middle blocker Allan Vince said. “It’s about setting
the standard for UCLA volleyball, a tradition of winning
championships. “You can see it in the eyes of the seniors;
they will determine how far we get in the playoffs.” For the
Bruins to fulfill their expectations, they will have to avoid the
pitfalls of UCLA teams of the past three years, all of which failed
to reach the NCAA Final Four and collectively won only one playoff
game. In fact, of this year’s seniors, only outside hitter
Jonathan Acosta played on the 2001 team that reached the NCAA
Championships. “I don’t necessarily think it’s a
disadvantage that we don’t have championship
experience,” senior Kris Kraushaar said. “Our team has
played in tough matches this year and we are well tested.”
The Bruins this year have defeated every team they’ve played
at least once, but were unable to secure home-court advantage for
the conference semifinal and championship match, which instead will
be hosted by Pepperdine. But before the Bruins can think about the
Final Four, which UCLA is hosting, Cal State Northridge and its
outside hitter Nils Nielsen loom in their path. Nielsen recorded 25
kills and a .340 hitting percentage in the Matadors’ last
match against the Bruins. Nielsen also recorded a career-high 29
kills with a .412 hitting percentage in Wednesday’s play-in
game against Stanford and will certainly be the focus of the
Bruins’ defensive strategy on Saturday. “I think if we
can stop him, we can pretty much guarantee ourselves of
victory,” outside hitter Matt McKinney said. “The
majority of the sets will definitely go to him.” On the
Bruins’ side, UCLA will have opposite hitter Steve Klosterman
and middle blocker Allan Vince healthy and ready to contribute to
the Bruins’ defensive attack. Recently, the Bruins have been
outplayed by opponents’ top hitters, with last
Thursday’s loss to Long Beach State showcasing that weakness,
as 49er outside hitter Robert Tarr registered 28 kills against the
Bruins. If they want to change their recent history of playoff
losses Saturday, the Bruins believe they need to start by limiting
top hitters like Nielsen.
BRUIN NEW RECRUIT: UCLA coach Al Scates said
Thursday that the Bruins signed middle blocker Sean O’Malley
out of Oak Park High School in suburban Chicago. O’Malley, a
6-foot-9, first All State performer, has signed a letter of intent
with the Bruins and will be a freshman during the 2005-2006 season.
“We’re really happy to have signed him,” Scates
said. “We’ve heard many good things about him, and we
have had success recruiting from the state of Illinois.” The
last UCLA men’s volleyball player out of Illinois was J.T.
Wenger, who graduated last season and played four years at opposite
hitter for the Bruins.