Since 1919
Traveling to Hawaii this weekend, the Bruins weren’t focused on buying souvenir leis or soaking up sunshine on the beach.
Instead, it was a complete business trip for No. 3 UCLA, who rolled through the Verizon Volleyball Challenge with three wins and no losses against Idaho (2-8), San Diego State (6-2) and No. 9 Hawaii (7-2), respectively.
Things seemed to be going in UCLA’s favor.
Playing in the midst of a hostile crowd and facing a two-set deficit, defending national champion UCLA women’s volleyball rallied to take two sets. Then, in the fifth set, the team took a 13-11 lead against No. 4 Nebraska.
After more than a month of limbo and silence, the UCLA men’s volleyball coaching search has ended.
Senior first baseman Dani Yudin found her left leg pinned under her after missing a lunging catch attempt on a throw from shortstop.
In front of a packed home gym, the announcer burst out, “Kyle Caldwell!”
These last four days of arduous practice, these last four months of gritty regular season action, these last four years of UCLA volleyball and these last 50 years of one-of-a-kind coaching all come together Saturday night.
For UCLA men’s volleyball it has been a long, long season. It began with open gym practices in the fall, included the team’s dominant climb atop the national rankings and finished with a fifth seed heading into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.
