With a season-high attendance of 1,359 at Pauley Pavilion, Friday night had all the makings of a celebration for the men’s volleyball team.
Senior libero Tony Ker was playing his final regular season match in Pauley Pavilion, the bleachers were packed for senior night, and the Bruins were ready to close out their home season with a win over the first-place team in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Unexpected by the Bruins, Cal State Northridge was ready to crash the party.
In just under 90 minutes, No. 7 UCLA fell in three straight games to the No. 2 Cal State Northridge Matadors, 25-30, 28-30, 24-30.
“I don’t know what the issue was tonight,” said junior outside hitter Sean O’Malley. “We honestly looked like deer in the headlights.”
The Bruins dropped to 16-12 overall and 11-9 in the MPSF, while the first place Matadors improved to 21-5, 16-4.
If that wasn’t enough, a rowdy Northridge student section soured the celebratory evening. At one point the group was told by UCLA Game Management to clean up their cheering.
“In men’s volleyball, the crowd can come out wild and hectic all the time,” O’Malley said. “I don’t think (the crowd) factored in.”
Though O’Malley ruled out the impact of the Northridge fans, there was no way to ignore the Matadors’ domination; they outhit, outblocked and outserved the Bruins. The Matadors did all this despite strong play from Bruin outside hitters O’Malley and Ryan Ratelle.
Ratelle pitched in 12 kills for a .500 clip, and O’Malley added 14 kills with a .480 clip. Ratelle’s night was cut short, however, with an ankle injury late in the third game.
Garrett Muagututia, the Bruins’ kills leader, was a nonfactor because of the Matador defense. Muagututia landed only six kills but had twice as many hitting errors in 21 attempts to make a -.286 clip, the worst line of his career.
“We were getting our hitters in good situations, but they just wouldn’t put the balls away in the right time,” O’Malley said.
As a team, the Bruins hit .247 yet hit .000 in the third game.
The Matadors, however, did not come out with an especially strong offensive night. They hit .345 and had two attackers with double-digit kills. The real difference of the night was blocking and serving.
“Out of 25 serves, we made 13 of them, missed 12, and on the 13 we made, we scored seven points,” Ker said. “We’re scoring at over 50 percent average, and we put the ball in, we win that game. So I think serving really killed us today.”
The Matadors also outblocked the Bruins 11.5 to 3.5.
“They’re a strong team, and they don’t make easy errors,” O’Malley said. “So when we give it to them, they’re going to take it.”
With only one week left in the regular season, the Bruins remain tied with Pepperdine for fourth in the MPSF, a position that will give them home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.
The Bruins must win out to remain in fourth place.
As for what’s next for the graduating Ker?
“First, I want to win the national championship; that’s the next thing in my life,” he said.