Though the MPSF season is barely half over, the UCLA men’s
volleyball team could take a giant step toward securing the
conference title this weekend.
The second-place Bruins will meet first-place Hawai’i in a
pair of matches on Friday and Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. If UCLA
can sweep the weekend series, it will leapfrog the Warriors in the
standings, and take control in the race for the home-court
advantage throughout the MPSF Playoffs.
“Whoever wins this series will be ranked first in the
nation,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “Hawai’i is a
very good club, and has had a great start. This will definitely be
one of the tougher matches of the year, and will be the biggest
test we’ve had so far.”
The Bruins (14-1, 10-1 MPSF) certainly seem to be the more
battle-tested team.
UCLA has already played, and defeated, every team ranked in the
top 11 of the AVCA Coaches Poll except No. 3 Hawai’i and No.
4 Penn State, but the team views this weekend’s series
against Hawai’i as the toughest competition of the year.
Hawai’i (10-1, 8-0), on the other hand, has defeated only
Penn State among the top seven teams in the nation.
That leaves the Bruins, who have won seven matches in a row,
confident they can extend their winning streak this weekend.
“We’re going to play with the same confidence we
always do, but the fact that it’s against Hawai’i and
at home might raise our level of play a little,” senior Allan
Vince said. “We’re the team to beat this year, and
we’ve gained experience with clutch wins against good teams.
They haven’t played the tough teams we’ve
beaten.”
The weekend matches could erase any doubts that the top-ranked
Bruins are the best team in the country or raise questions about
the team’s ability to win against the best.
Hawai’i, which lost All-American middle blocker Delano
Thomas at the beginning of the season due to academics, still
boasts some of the best players in the country.
Senior Pedro Azenha ranks seventh in the nation in points per
game with 5.67 and sophomore Brian Beckwith is ranked third in the
nation in assists.
The Warriors also boast junior Maulia La Barre, who ranks sixth
in hitting percentage (.490) and ninth in blocking, and junior
libero Alfred Reft, who is fourth in the nation in digs per
game.
Rounding out the Warrior’s solid play is excellent
blocking by La Barre and sophomore Dio Dante, who average 1.51 and
1.03 blocks per game, respectively.
“Their combination of middle blockers is among the
strongest in the country,” Scates said. “It’s
rare to have a team with two outstanding blockers like that, so
that’s a real strength for them, but we have the same thing
with our two middles (seniors Paul Johnson and Allan
Vince).”
“We’re going to have to take their middles out of
the game by passing well. A lot will depend on their serving versus
our passing,” he added.
The last time Hawai’i visited Pauley Pavilion, UCLA
dispatched of the Warriors quite easily, sweeping them out of the
MPSF quarterfinals last year.
The Bruins know this weekend’s matches could be a tougher
test.
“We are always capable of controlling the outcome of the
game, and we’ll be fine if we put up solid blocks and control
the game at the net,” senior Jonathan Acosta said. “We
have to play hard against them, because we know they’ll bring
their best game against us.”