A team devoid of major veteran leadership suffered a big blow
when one of its upperclassmen, former setter Beau Peters, decided
to leave the UCLA men’s volleyball team this past month. The
redshirt junior, who left the team for personal reasons, may return
to the team in the winter, but coach Al Scates highly doubts that
possibility. “We gave him the opportunity to come back, but
the possibility is unlikely,” Scates said. “He got hurt
in Italy and just needed some time away.” Peters transferred
to the Bruins from Long Beach State after his freshman year and
played in 16 matches in 2003 for the Bruins. However, he eventually
lost the starting setter position to current redshirt senior Dennis
Gonzalez and lost a big role on the team. Last season, Peters
redshirted the season and switched positions to outside hitter to
try to gain more playing time for this season. “His presence
will definitely be missed,” Scates said. “He tried to
change his role, but it just didn’t work out. We have young
players in his place who are definitely ready, and we look forward
to giving them the opportunity.” The loss of Peters now
leaves the Bruins with nine fewer players than last season,
including the third player to leave the team in the last four
months. In June, junior outside hitter Matt McKinney and redshirt
freshman setter Gaby Acevedo both left the team. McKinney left for
due to injury and Acevedo decided to transfer to the University of
Puerto Rico, to attend to his ailing father. “We’re
definitely going to miss both of those guys,” Gonzalez said.
“But its just going to give the younger guys more opportunity
to step up. People will be surprised what kind of young talent we
have.” Now, without junior outside hitter Steve Klosterman,
who underwent shoulder surgery in the spring, the Bruins only have
three major players, libero Tony Ker, Gonzalez and outside hitter
Damien Scott, returning to the team this season.
ITALY TRIP: The Bruins recently returned from a
three-week exhibition trip to Italy. The team finished 6-3 on the
trip and played against many of the top teams in the Italian
professional league. The Bruins mostly competed against teams in
the second-highest level of volleyball competition in Italy.
“We didn’t play as well as we would like to,”
Scott said. “But considering the circumstances, I thought the
trip was overall successful.” During the trip, the Bruins
visited all the major cities in Northern Italy and got to compete
against some players from Italy’s A-1 level. “The
competition was great, and the traveling was even better,”
Gonzalez said. “We really had a fun time on the
trip.”
FRESHMEN JOIN: All five of UCLA’s
incoming freshmen, including heralded recruits Sean O’Malley
and Matt Wade, recently joined the team and will be accompanying
the Bruins to the Can Am Challenge this weekend in Alberta. This
weekend’s competition will be the first for the freshmen
because they were unable to compete with the team in Italy due to
NCAA rules. “I can’t wait to get out there and face
some competition,” O’Malley said. “This team has
great potential, and we have a young team, so there will be a lot
of pressure on us to perform.” O’Malley, a 6-foot-9
middle blocker from Illinois, has been practicing with the
Bruins’ first team in practice and will play a significant
role for the Bruins this season. “We are expecting a lot from
him,” Scates said. “He is an unbelievable talent, and
he will help us fill some of the gaps we are missing from last
season.”