UCLA men’s volleyball faces key second game against Long Beach State
UCLA and freshman outside hitter J.T. Hatch face Long Beach State, the only team ranked lower than the Bruins to have beat them, to beat the Bruins that are still ranked lower than UCLA, for the second time this season. (Hannah Ye/Daily Bruin)
By Claire Fahy
March 6, 2015 1:17 a.m.
UCLA men’s volleyball’s last matchup with Long Beach State proved to be a turning point in the season.
The Bruins, entering the game 1-3 in conference play, dominated the 49ers for an easy 25-17 first set win. The team went on to play some of its worst volleyball of the season en route to dropping each of the three subsequent sets.
Ever since that loss to No. 10 Long Beach State in the Walter Pyramid Feb. 4, No. 9 UCLA has gone 5-2 and beaten all unranked opponents. The 49ers (9-8, 6-8 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) remain the only team ranked below the Bruins (10-6, 6-6) to defeat them so far this year.
“I feel like at this point of the season we’ve done a pretty good job of beating the teams that are below us and then we’ve been beat up by the teams that are above us,” said coach John Speraw. “There’s really no happy medium. It’s been all or nothing. We’ve been crushed or winning.”
UCLA will look to win its third straight game Friday in Pauley Pavilion, a win streak the team has yet to achieve in conference play. The game comes on the heels of a dominant 3-1 win over Cal State Northridge Tuesday in which the Bruins rebounded from a first set loss to take the game.
“What we really need to do is see how (an opponent is) attacking us. (CSUN) was attacking us really well and hitting our weaknesses in the first set – that’s why they were able to win it,” said redshirt freshman middle blocker Eric Sprague. “Our coach was able to get a lineup that was good to counter what they were doing to counter us.”
The Bruins revealed an ability to be resilient in their win over the Matadors – something they failed to show early on this year. Through its first six games, including the first loss to Long Beach, UCLA wound up on the losing end of all matches when it failed to reach five points first.
The 49ers will be the first team the Bruins face for the second time this season. If the Bruins can continue off of their win against the Matadors and make the changes necessary to pick up another win, the second half of the season could be much more promising.
“We have to give it everything we’ve got every time we go out there,” said freshman outside hitter J.T. Hatch.
