Halfway through its six-game road trip, the men’s volleyball team will head to the valley tonight to face off against the No. 4 Cal State Northridge squad.
The No. 6 Bruins (10-6, 7-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) enter tonight’s match coming off a tough four-game loss to a low-ranked UC Santa Barbara squad.
The Bruins, with memories of self-inflicted losses to the UCSB Gauchos and Hawai’i Warriors, will play the Matadors (11-4,7-3), who are currently on a five-game winning streak.
About halfway through the season and with the MPSF playoffs looming, the Bruins are focused on gaining late-season momentum to gain home-court advantage in the playoffs.
“It is imperative that we beat CSUN so we can stay in the mix and … we can host the first round of the playoffs at the end of April,” assistant coach Brian Rofer said.
With the Matadors currently third in the MPSF, a win for the Bruins will bring the division rivals within only percentage points of each other in MPSF standings.
Tonight’s match is also the last conference match for the Bruins until they visit UC Irvine on Mar. 7. The two-week break between conference matches will allow other MPSF teams to gain more separation from the Bruins and put pressure on the team to win late-season games.
Rofer explained that the Bruins have been shooting themselves in the foot with unforced errors and missed hits, and the Bruins will play tonight in the Matadome aiming to hit the 30-foot square on the other side of the net.
“That’s a big square to not put the ball into because we weren’t getting blocked and we had a lot of hitting errors,” Rofer said. “We need to find players who will hit the ball hard and not be afraid of the block and put the ball on the court.”
And finding the right players has been tough for the Bruins, who have been shuffling three potential redshirts in and out, as well as dealing with injuries to key starters senior libero Tony Ker and sophomore outside hitter Dylan Bowermaster.
The coaches replaced a number of starters Wednesday night due to their inconsistency at hitting. Tonight’s lineup will likely be different as well.
“I’m sure there will be some changes in the starting lineup, just based on performance level and unforced hitting errors (against UCSB),” Rofer said.
Given their inconsistent blocking, the men’s volleyball squad has a tough opponent in the Matadors, who wield one of the top outside hitters in the MPSF. Junior Eric Vance, who is averaging nearly five kills per game in the last three matches, will force the Bruins’ front line to bring their “A” game to the net.
“(CSUN) likes to run the middle a lot,” Rofer said. “(Vance) ultimately is going to get a lot of sets, so we are going to be concentrating on him in transition.”
Rofer also explained that the squad needs to work on its side of the net to defeat the Matadors. Opponents’ statistics aside, the Bruins have been digging their own grave in most of the team’s losses this season.