The team loped past the court, not dressed in the usual blue, but instead wearing bright pinks, yellows and greens.
It was not the UCLA men’s volleyball team wearing the flamboyant clothes and zany wigs, but rather the men’s water polo team whose energy in the stands helped propel UCLA to its 20th consecutive set win and a 3-0 victory over No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (2-5, 0-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) on Friday.
No. 3 UCLA (9-1, 4-0) overcame an unusually slow start to the match, going on to sweep Santa Barbara in three sets, 25-18, 25-20 and 25-19.
As they watched their team cling to an 11-8 lead in the first set, UCLA students in Collins Court erupted as the parade of water polo players rushed through the crowd.
With cheers and chants echoing throughout the building, the Bruins fed off that energy and scored 11 of the next 15 points, pushing their lead to 10.
“It was a huge momentum booster and I think it rattled the other team a little bit,” redshirt senior quick hitter Weston Dunlap said of the rowdy water polo team. “I think we were tied or very close when they came in, then we started going on a run, so it was huge for us.”
Even coach Al Scates acknowledged the impact the water polo team made on the game.
“We really like it when they show up. It adds a lot of atmosphere,” Scates said. “One of the water polo players dropped by my office (Friday) afternoon and said, “˜Coach, could you extend the match? We’re having a good time here and it’s over too soon.’ (laughs) Well, no. Not if we can help it.”
Redshirt senior outside hitter Jeremy Casebeer, who finished with a team-high 10 points, pointed out that the smaller court in the John Wooden Center only makes the crowd more of a problem for opponents.
“It’s always fun to play in that kind of environment,” Casebeer said. “Especially now that we’re in Wooden, we can really pack people in and really have that home court advantage. In Pauley (Pavilion, where the team played prior to the building’s renovation), you can have 3,000 people and you’d never know. Here you get 500 and it’s packed, so we really appreciate them coming out.”
In the second set, the Bruins jumped out to a quick 8-3 lead before trading points for most of the remainder of the game, finishing with a 25-20 win.
UCLA’s ability to get early leads has been key to their success this season. Scates said serving is the main component of the team’s ability to string points together.
“Well, we start out serving the ball hard and we get aces and the other team passes the ball badly, and that puts our big block into control,” Scates said. “Every server is capable of running off several points, and that’s how you win.”
The Bruins got off to another quick start in the third set, jumping ahead 5-1, but the Gauchos took advantage of some sloppy play by the Bruins to rally and tie the game at 14 all.
“We got a little lackadaisical,” Casebeer said. “We let a few balls go down that we shouldn’t have. … We can’t let that happen, can’t get complacent.”
The Bruins then went on an 11-5 run to close out the set, 25-19, and win the match.
UCLA’s defense held Santa Barbara to .125 hitting percentage and amassed 12 blocks. The defense was backed up by a strong offensive performance as well, as the team hit .432.
“We just want to crush teams,” Dunlap said. “We’re so set on not letting up in any game, so we’re rolling with it. We talk about it a lot and we know that we just want to come out and do the best we can in every game and not let up.”