With six wins in its last seven matchups, UCLA men’s volleyball had Hawai’i’s number coming into the weekend. Even though long distance calls are expensive, the Bruins continued to dial the Warriors. After this weekend though, Hawai’i probably won’t pick up the phone anymore.
No. 1 UCLA (14-2, 9-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) defeated No. 13 Hawai’i (6-9, 3-7) 3-0 on Friday, and returned for an encore on Saturday with another sweep.
The Bruins played to a 20-20 tie in the first set on Friday, but a late 5-1 surge by UCLA secured the game, 25-21.
In the second set the Bruins jumped out to a 5-2 lead capped by a kill from sophomore outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga. Quiroga wreaked havoc in the set, totaling nine kills; the sophomore finished Friday’s match with 16 kills and no errors.
As a team the Bruins hit an astounding .406.
“(Senior setter Kyle Caldwell) was just putting the ball in the perfect spot all night. Our passing, I think, was the key. We were just passing nails,” senior middle hitter Thomas Amberg said.
After allowing the Warriors to hit more than .300 for the first two sets, the Bruins’ defense awoke to limit Hawai’i to a .194 attack in the third set. This paved the way for the 25-21 set win.
On Saturday night, Hawai’i jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead in the first set. UCLA, behind senior opposite hitter Nick Vogel, seemed unfazed. Vogel had three kills and a three-point streak at the service line to cap an 8-2 run.
“I was playing in the moment. I had a little adrenaline going off my serve, but like I said, it definitely had to do with a lot of the defense that was up there,” Vogel said.
UCLA went on to seal the deal 25-21.
Behind a relentless blocking effort, the Bruins dominated the Warriors 25-14 in the second set for the most lopsided set win of the weekend.
“In that set, we had a real quick start, and we just kept blocking and kept blocking,” Amberg said. “They couldn’t get back on us because we would serve the ball and they would just get blocked. We were scoring so well.”
UCLA finished with a season-high 17 blocks. Four players racked up at least five block assists/solo blocks.
“We had two video sessions in the same day, which is pretty uncharacteristic. We had two sessions on their hitters. Going into the game, Saturday night, our blockers knew exactly what their hitters wanted to do. We took away all their tendencies,” coach Al Scates said. “Our blockers did a great job, perhaps our best blocking night of the year thus far.”
The Bruins’ block specifically targeted senior outside hitter Steven Hunt. After a 16-kill, .382-hitting performance the night before, Hunt was shut down to five kills, six errors, and a -.053 clip.
With all the momentum behind them, the Bruins took the final set 25-19.
Both redshirt senior outside hitter Jeremy Casebeer and Vogel played consistently for UCLA. Casebeer followed his 10-kill effort Friday night with a game-high 12 kills on Saturday. Vogel one-upped his eight kills on Friday with nine on Saturday.
“I think I’m finally starting to get a little more of a hold on my new position and I’m liking it a lot,” said Vogel, who played quick hitter last year but moved to opposite hitter this year.
The Bruins return home to play Cal Baptist on Friday.