Gaucho’s fast start buries men’s volleyball
By Benjamin Kelly
Feb. 10, 2011 12:52 a.m.
Pauley Pavilion was echoing with chants and cheers Wednesday, and the UCLA men’s volleyball team was a point away from bringing its match against UC Santa Barbara to a tiebreaking fifth set.
But the energy was too little, too late, as the Gauchos proceeded to snatch away five of the next six points in their 3-1 win.
“When we have a swing for a game, for a match, we need to kill that ball,” redshirt junior setter Alex Scattareggia said. “We need someone to make a big play, and we just can’t be tentative anymore.”
UCSB’s 3-1 win started in disheartening fashion as UCLA dropped the first set 25-11. An ineffective defense forced the Bruins to shuffle around their lineup, which allowed the Gauchos to hit for a .789 clip in the first.
The No. 5 Bruins (7-6, 2-5 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) made the second set interesting but couldn’t tie the match. Junior opposite Kyle Caldwell led UCLA to a 23-23 tie and ended the night with four aces and 16 kills, many of which were blasted so hard that UCSB players tumbled to the ground while trying to receive them. Despite UCLA’s increased effort, the No. 7 Gauchos (7-5, 5-4) took the set 25-23.
After a 6-6 tie, the Bruins jumped ahead to take the third set 25-18. For a team that has repeatedly had a hard time with winning sets late in matches, it was a promising sign.
“It’s a good feeling. But at the same time, we lost so it doesn’t mean a whole lot,” Caldwell said.
Caldwell and freshman outside hitter Robart Page, who ended up with nine kills, kept things close in the fourth set, but the Gauchos proved to be too much, winning 27-25.
UCLA did serve aggressively throughout the night, totaling nine aces at the expense of 22 errors.
“When you don’t go for it, you end up missing a lot anyways,” coach Al Scates said. “Once we started going for it, we made a lot of errors, but we put them in some bad situations.”
UCLA will face UCSB again in a road match Friday and will be looking to break out of its slump. After a hot start to the season, the Bruins have lost five of their last six. Now would be the ideal time for the team to turn things around and put together a string of victories.
“Most of my 19 (NCAA) championships came that way,” Scates said. “At the end (of the season) we started a streak. I’d like to start one Friday.”
