In seemingly every match this season, the UCLA men’s
volleyball team has had a different player step up in crucial
situations.
On Saturday night against No. 10 Stanford (10-12, 9-10 MPSF), it
was newly arrived Matt McKinney’s turn to take the No. 2
Bruins on his back.
Up 35-34 and with match point in the fourth game, McKinney
stuffed Stanford’s Greg Buell and secured the victory for the
Bruins, 25-30, 35-33, 30-21, 36-34.
On that night, McKinney finished with 15 kills and seven blocks
in his first action with the Bruins’ (22-3, 15-3) volleyball
team in nearly two years.
“I was extremely pleased with Matt’s effort,”
UCLA coach Al Scates said. “When you consider that he
wasn’t even sure if he was going to play on the road trip,
it’s a great result.”
McKinney, a redshirt sophomore, was part of a Bruin defense that
held the Cardinal hitters in check for the last three games,
limiting them to a .184 hitting percentage and forcing an
astounding 30 hitting errors.
According to Scates, McKinney’s contributions and the
Bruin defense in the final three games were the key to the
Bruins’ victory.
“When you look at the way we played in the first game,
Stanford’s players really took it to us,” Scates said.
“McKinney’s blocking and passing really helped our
defense change that in the last three games.”
McKinney, who substituted for outside hitter Jonathan Acosta
late in the first game, was one of four Bruins who were brought in
off the bench after the Bruins’ lackluster first game.
Former starter Steve Klosterman received playing time as well,
coming in for opposite Damien Scott, and outside hitter Gray
Garrett was brought in for starter Kris Kraushaar.
“I brought in everyone off the bench to find some lineup
that would have some rhythm, but nothing seemed to work,”
Scates said. “The only players with any hitting consistency
all night were McKinney and Paul Johnson.”
Johnson, the Bruins’ leading hitter on the season,
recorded a team-high 23 kills with a .526 hitting percentage and
five assisted blocks. Klosterman added eight blocks in his first
extensive playing time in five matches.
Both players’ contributions were extraordinary considering
that the Cardinal recorded an astonishing 75 digs in the four
games, causing Scates to laud its accomplishments. “It was
the best defense I’ve seen in my 43 years of coaching. They
were running down every single ball that we hit.”
But the real star of the game was McKinney, who didn’t
show any rust despite not playing since the 2003 season. His effort
has now given Scates one more option in the Bruins’ already
overcrowded lineup of outside hitters.
“The only problem with Matt’s effort on Saturday was
now that I have to find some place for him to play,” Scates
said.
After sweeping the No. 11 Pacific Tigers 30-21, 30-20, 30-18 on
Friday and with Pepperdine’s loss to Long Beach State on
Thursday, the Bruins are only a game behind the No. 1 Waves heading
into next week’s conference play.