The men’s volleyball team didn’t have much of a spring break.
While Bruins everywhere were spending their week off in whatever way they pleased, Bruin volleyball was busy preparing for two of its biggest games of the season against top-ranked Pepperdine and crosstown rival USC.
In front of a huge crowd at the Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Pepperdine (20-1, 16-1 MPSF) lived up to its No. 1 ranking, defeating UCLA in four games ““ 28-30, 30-26, 30-25, 30-21. With this win, Pepperdine has won a stunning 17 matches in a row with their only loss of the season coming at the hands of Long Beach State back in January.
Pepperdine also showed off its individual talent against UCLA, as three of its players were able to hit double digits in kills. This included Australian wonder boy Paul Carroll, who continued his stellar season with 18 kills.
However, the Bruins did not have a lackluster performance either. Senior Steve Klosterman continued to show his hitting prowess by smashing 22 kills of his own, while redshirt senior Paul George added 13 and redshirt freshman Brett Perrine added another 10. Despite losing to the Waves, coach Al Scates thinks his players’ performances were a step in the right direction.
“This is actually the first really good away match we’ve had,” Scates said. “There was a nice crowd. … It was a good environment for us to play well in and we did, so it is a huge step closer to where we want to be.”
Playing No. 12 USC (10-13, 7-11) however, was a different story. When the Trojans came to Pauley Pavilion in January, they defeated a struggling Bruin team in three games. So the Bruins had a score to settle when they visited the Galen Center on Saturday. Although down early in the first game, the Bruins fought back to win thanks to four key aces by George. The Bruins would finish the night with six aces and a team clip of 0.394 on their way to a three-game sweep ““ 30-27, 30-20, 30-26.
Although unusual, Scates gave a simple explanation to why UCLA and USC both swept each other in opposite arenas.
“We’re a much better team than we were in January,” Scates said.
Redshirt freshman Shaun Nichols, in his first start of the season, led the Bruins with 13 kills, a 0.579 clip and six blocks. Klosterman also added 12 kills, but Nichols’ performance was a welcome addition to the Bruin offense.
“(Nichols) has been blocking real well in practice,” Scates said. “He’s getting from antenna to antenna better than the other guys. … Nichols got there tonight and led our team. (Klosterman is) usually our key player, but tonight we didn’t have to ride him because our middles were going off.”
USC’s Juan Figueroa led both sides with 19 kills, but it just wasn’t enough to overcome the Bruins.
The victory against USC also adds 2.5 points for the Bruins in the Lexus Gauntlet. UCLA currently dominates the Gauntlet race, 50-22.5.
The Bruins will play California Baptist on Wednesday, but more important for Scates is Friday’s game when No. 2 UC Irvine comes to Westwood.
“We get better as the season progresses,” Scates said. “We’ll see how much progress we’ve made when we play Irvine.”