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UCLA redshirt senior setter Dennis Gonzalez holds up the national championship trophy after defea

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Surrounded by players celebrating their win in the men’s volleyball NCAA Championship last Saturday, UCLA redshirt senior Dennis Gonzalez quietly walked to the edge of the court and got on his knees to reflect and pray.

“Even with everything going on around me, I wanted to give thanks to God for letting me and my teammates play the best volleyball we possibly could, and we did just that,” Gonzalez said.

For the setter from Puerto Rico, the Bruins’ 3-0 victory over Penn State was a chance for him to finally prove to himself and his country that he can be a successful volleyball player.

Despite an illustrious 12-year career in the Junior Nationals and the Junior Olympics, and as a starting setter for UCLA, Gonzalez had never won a championship until now.

“I finally proved to myself that I can be a good volleyball player,” Gonzalez said. “I always had this thing behind me that I had never won. I chose UCLA because I thought I would win here, and it was looking so close to not winning a championship, but this is a dream come true.”

Although he has been a leader on the court for the Bruins in recent years, Gonzalez never saw himself as capable of being the role model he desired to be for the young players in Puerto Rico.

Gonzalez grew up looking to the collegiate players who won national championships in America as his role models, but before now felt a sense of failure because of his inability to reach the ultimate success of an NCAA title.

“Being recognized as a good setter and winning the national championship is what I’ve played volleyball my entire life for,” Gonzalez said. “I hope now I can be a role model for the kids coming up.”

To truly appreciate the sense of accomplishment that Gonzalez and the rest of the Bruin seniors feel, the difficulty the team had in achieving this goal has to be understood.

It’s an unspoken guarantee that every men’s volleyball player who comes to UCLA will get an NCAA Championship ring, but Gonzalez is part of the senior class that saw the worst run in UCLA volleyball history.

In 2003, UCLA missed the conference playoffs for the first time in coach Al Scates’ 44-year tenure at UCLA.

Last year, the first senior class graduated without winning a national championship, breaking the tradition of success to which the Bruins had become accustomed.

“I’m really sorry there was one group of seniors that didn’t get a ring,” Scates said. “We could have won last year if Dennis was available to play.”

Gonzalez came back strong after sitting out last year’s NCAA Finals with a broken finger, but then sprained his ankle in March and was forced to sit out crucial matches again this season.

Although he has faced struggles, Gonzalez said the path he and the rest of this team took to the national championship makes the victory all the more satisfying.

Gonzalez came back from his injury and had 37 set assists in the championship match, to go with two kills, two solo blocks and three block assists.

“From the beginning, we knew we had the potential, but no one believed in us but ourselves,” Gonzalez said. “To be on such a great team, where every player helps each other, is the perfect scenario for winning a championship.”

For all his hard work, Gonzalez is finally being recognized as the solid leader he has become for the Bruins.

“Dennis did an unbelievable job of leading the team this season, and I couldn’t ask for anything more from him,” junior Steve Klosterman said.

One of Gonzalez’s biggest contributions on the court is not the way he controls the offense with his distribution of sets, but the energy he infuses into each of his teammates.

“Dennis gives us that emotion, and he always fires the guys up all the time,” Scates said. “He’s come back from so many different problems, and now he’s going to graduate and finish on top.”

Leading the Bruins to a national championship, with his parents in the crowd at Rec Hall and many in Puerto Rico watching, Gonzalez can leave UCLA knowing he has left a legacy of which he can be proud.

“It was unbelievable for my parents to be with me, experiencing my success with me, and to show all of Puerto Rico how I can play,” Gonzalez said.

“But this victory was mostly for my grandfather, who passed away last summer and who I owe so much of who I am to. I was also thanking him in my prayers after the match.”