Author Archives: Sagar Parikh

It was a simple gesture, a normal occurrence for the average person. But it may have cost UCLA junior middle blocker Allan Vince his starting spot. Vince, who missed the beginning of Saturday’s game to attend the wedding of a close friend, is now embroiled in a battle for the starting position with junior David […]

He wasn’t even on the traveling squad before Thursday. He hadn’t started a match in nearly two years. But when UCLA coach Al Scates held an open audition for the middle blocker position during Thursday’s practice, it was junior middle blocker David Russell who commanded the coach’s attention. “He was the fastest and quickest out […]

With his team trailing late in the first game Saturday night against Stanford, UCLA men’s volleyball coach Al Scates looked down at his bench for an unlikely spark. Enter dual-sport athlete Matt McKinney. McKinney, better known as a forward on the UCLA basketball team, had only practiced with the volleyball team for four days and […]

In seemingly every match this season, the UCLA men’s volleyball team has had a different player step up in crucial situations. On Saturday night against No. 10 Stanford (10-12, 9-10 MPSF), it was newly arrived Matt McKinney’s turn to take the No. 2 Bruins on his back. Up 35-34 and with match point in the […]

If Saturday’s loss to then-second-ranked Pepperdine didn’t already have enough repercussions for the No. 2 UCLA men’s volleyball team, Monday’s practice may have held even worse news. The cornerstone of UCLA’s (18-3, 13-3 MPSF) team, sophomores Steve Klosterman and Dennis Gonzalez, were removed from the first team and are not projected to start in tonight’s […]

On paper, the contest looked like a mismatch, pitting the vaunted No. 1 Bruins against USC, the MPSF cellar-dweller. But on the volleyball court, Thursday night’s match between the crosstown rivals was much closer than UCLA expected. In a hard-fought battle in which players from both teams were thoroughly exhausted and suffering cramps by the […]

Jonathan Acosta, senior captain of the top-ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team, was walking off the court after Friday night’s annual alumni match when a former teammate cut off his path. Former Bruin Brandon Taliaferro did not want to relive any of the highlights of the exhibition match with Acosta. Instead, the four-time All-American setter gave […]