This was a weekend of firsts for the UCLA men’s volleyball
team. The Bruins lost their first match of the season, in their
first road match at Stanford on Friday. However, the Bruins bounced
back to get their first conference win of the year, as they
defeated Pacific 3-1 Sunday.
In Friday’s 3-1 loss, the No. 2 Bruins (5-1 overall, 1-1
in MPSF play) did not stick to their game plan, and their sub-par
serving allowed the No. 11 Cardinal to win 30-28, 30-25, 25-30,
30-28, ending UCLA’s four-match winning streak.
“I felt it was one we should have won. We had a real good
game plan, it was the first match, and we were on the road,”
UCLA coach Al Scates said. “I just don’t think we were
focused enough to follow the game plan, we had a breakdown in
assignments, particularly when we were serving.”
UCLA was again led by breakout freshman opposite Steve
Klosterman, who registered 19 kills. Junior opposite Allan Vince
added 15 kills. The match against the Cardinal (3-2, 1-0) saw the
return of sophomore setter Dennis Gonzalez, who came in for
sophomore setter Beau Peters after the first game and played the
rest of match, making 48 assists. Gonzalez also played three games
against Pacific, and Scates said he is the team’s starting
setter.
“On Nov. 21, Dennis was the starter, and when we came back
from vacation, Beau was in better shape because Dennis had been
ill,” Scates said. “But now the gap has closed, Beau
started, but Dennis came in and regained his form. He will be
running with the first team at practice.”
Gonzalez notched 44 assists in the Bruins’ 27-30, 30-11,
30-19, 30-27 defeat of No. 13 Pacific (1-5, 0-2) Sunday afternoon.
High-powered junior Nils Dauburs, who had 14 kills, led Pacific,
and the Tigers took game one, giving UCLA a wake-up call.
“We came out tentative again in the first game, then in
the second we didn’t let what happened at Stanford happen
again,” Klosterman said. “We said we have to come out
and win it for ourselves. We played super well.”
Scates said junior outside hitter Kris Kraushaar had the best
game of his career against Pacific, as Kraushaar notched 18 kills,
four aces and four blocks. Senior quick hitter Chris Peña
added 16 kills in an effort that allowed him to reclaim his
starting position.
“Chris Peña is playing extremely well, he is blocking
well, and he is hitting well,” Scates said. “He came in
and played well off bench at Stanford and he started at Pacific. He
is the starter.”