The end of the regular season is in sight, and the men’s volleyball team hopes to be peaking soon as the playoffs loom near. And after sweeping cross-town-rival USC handily last Saturday, the No. 4 Bruins (15-10) are looking to build their momentum tonight in a non-conference matchup at home against three-time NAIA defending-champion Cal Baptist University (18-9).
It is crunch time for the Bruins, who are currently fifth in league standings, and every match counts, even nonconference games that can certainly swing the momentum for this UCLA squad.
“(Cal Baptist is) going to use us for their tournament, and we’re going to use them for warm-ups for ours,” team captain Paul George said. “It’s perfect.”
The Cal Baptist Lancers are the No. 1 seed going into the NAIA National Invitational Men’s Volleyball Tournament, which commences on April 12. The Bruins will be Cal Baptist’s final opponents before taking on its NAIA competition.
Meanwhile, UCLA is looking to continue to improve its own game against the Lancers as it heads into a tough end-of-season schedule. UC Irvine and Long Beach State are up next for the Bruins in the following week.
“We’re going into (the match) thinking (the Lancers) could be one of the top-five teams in the (MPSF),” George said. “We’re going to take it like any other match and hopefully keep our win streak running.”
The MPSF boasts a bundle of the top-notch volleyball programs in the country, but Cal Baptist is clearly the frontrunner in its own league, the Mid-America Men’s Volleyball Intercollegiate Conference. The Lancers have won five of the nine total national titles, and this standout performance turns many heads, including that of UCLA coach Al Scates.
“They’re as good as the NCAA teams,” Scates said. “They’re a really good team ““ well-coached. They win the NAIA every year.”
The Lancers are led by senior opposite Shamsu Awudu, who is the two-time defending NAIA Tournament MVP. He currently leads the team with 5.18 kills per game and an attack percentage of .375.
“Awudu is going to be a threat,” George said.
Other than Awudu, however, the Bruins admit they do not know much about their nonconference opponent, as video footage has been scarce. Adding to the team captain’s numbers are outside hitters Donald Baliaba and Yukai Sun, who chip in nearly eight more kills to the Lancers’ offense.
But even though UCLA does not know much about Cal Baptist’s squad, they are aware of the threat they pose by looking at its record. The Lancers have swept No. 6 Penn State and most recently No. 5 UC Santa Barbara. The Bruins are hoping not to also fall victim to this NAIA powerhouse tonight.