It’s simple and straightforward, but not so easy to execute.
It takes a relatively large amount of preparation, but when the UCLA men’s volleyball team can carry out the game plan that coaches Al Scates and Brian Rofer put together, there can only be one result: a win.
Against Long Beach State on Saturday, the No. 7 Bruins (15-11, 10-8 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), in one of only a few times this season, succeeded in implementing the game plan during the match. And they hope for a similar outcome tonight when they take on No. 14 UC Santa Barbara (9-14, 6-12) in Pauley Pavilion.
While watching hours of game footage of the opponent, Rofer carefully notes the tendencies and strengths of the players, and then goes over the gathered information with Scates.
Against the Gauchos, UCLA will most certainly be keen on slowing down the arms of opposite Jeff Menzel and outside hitter Mike Runkle, who each had a field day against the Bruins in their last meeting on Feb. 21. Menzel led the night with 21 kills at a .341 rate while Runkle chipped in 15 at a nearly unstoppable .429 clip. The coaches will be paying close attention to these players while watching video to help adjust accordingly.
“If a player hits cross-body all the time, we’re going to take that angle and we’re going to put diggers in his body line,” Scates said. “You can’t take everything, so we’re just going to decide on what the (hitter’s) strongest shot is. Everybody hits some shots better than other shots.”
Written down, the game plan is distributed to the players, then reinforced visually by looking at video as well.
“Between the two, the written game plan and the visual game plan, they should know their opponent quite well,” Scates said.
If the Bruins can slow down the other side of the net as planned, all they need to worry about is themselves. But that should be no cause for concern.
Outside hitter Sean O’Malley has grown into his role of being not only a starter, but also a leader on the court. Against Long Beach, the junior put down 19 kills at a blazing .457 average.
He is part of the reason why the Bruins feel confident that a repeat of the February match will not occur.
“We finally figured out something lineup-wise (now),” O’Malley said. “We’ve come up with more of a team identity, which I think is crucial.”