Coach Al Scates didn’t expect his young men’s
volleyball team to beat Brigham Young University this weekend. But
no one could have anticipated the Bruins’ conference-opener
would be this lopsided.
The No. 2 Cougars (4-0, 2-0 MPSF) pounced on the No. 3 Bruins
(2-3, 0-2) right from the get-go, sweeping the weekend 30-28,
30-22, 30-26 Friday and 30-21, 30-23, 33-31 Saturday.
Yet UCLA did come out of the weekend with some feeling of
accomplishment, having solidified a majority of its starting
lineup.
“We had four guys competing, but we found two middles
Saturday,” said Scates, who was hoping to learn something
about his team this weekend. “Jamie Diefenbach finally
started blocking; it’s the first night he looked like he knew
what he was doing. If his technique is right, the ball is going to
go down. (Friday) he was going too high and the ball went down his
armpits, (but Saturday) he sealed the net.”
After his short stint with the basketball team,
Diefenbach’s blocking forte has returned to the volleyball
court in strong fashion. He contributed seven to the Bruins’
17 blocks Saturday, many of which came in the close third set.
Shaun Nichols, who was given the starting nod over Brett Perrine
on Saturday, also proved to Scates that he can be a force in the
middle. The redshirt freshman pounded down 11 kills at a .647 clip
against the Cougars in that second match.
“(Diefenbach and Nichols) were two really bright spots for
us,” Scates said.
On Saturday, the two middles were the only ones to pick up
double-digit kills: Diefenbach led with 13, and Nichols had 11.
Meanwhile, the Bruin outsides were shut down, including the Most
Outstanding Player of last season’s NCAA Tournament, Steve
Klosterman.
Klosterman was rendered ineffective this weekend, hitting -.083
on Friday and -.111 on Saturday.
“Klosterman had two miserable outings,” Scates said.
“He’s been playing well up to this trip, but we need
some firepower out there until Steve hits his stride.”
Friday was a total reversal, with the outside hitters finding
the court and the middles struggling. Senior captain Paul George
led with 15 kills, and true freshman Garrett Muagututia came off
the bench to pitch in nine kills in his official collegiate
debut.
“We didn’t have enough people playing well,”
Scates said. “We had a hard time scoring because we had to
lob-serve to keep the ball in (at the high altitude). We did play
one good game out of the six.”
“The altitude took away one of our primary weapons ““
serving,” said Scates, whose team committed a combined 32
service errors over the course of the weekend.
Scates had the team put in extra hours in an attempt to overcome
the Cougars’ elevation advantage.
But all in all, the struggling Bruins were just no match for
BYU, having no answers to the Cougars’ front line. Three
Cougars hit above .500 in Saturday’s match, with Robby
Stowell leading the way with 19 kills at .654, Ivan Perez with 16
at .542, and Rodnei Santos with six kills at .500. On Friday, BYU
hit an astounding .500 overall, led by Yosleyder Cala’s
errorless .789 field day and Russell Holmes’s .786
outing.
“Cala and Perez are the best outside hitters in the
country as a duo,” Scates said. “(BYU) has tremendous
athletes. I don’t know how you beat them at home.”
But the Bruins will get the chance to redeem themselves at sea
level this week, when they take on UC Santa Barbara and Cal State
Northridge.