UCLA sweeps Cal Baptist in exhibition competition

  BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Outside hitter
Ian Burnham goes for a kill in last night’s game
against Cal Baptist. The Bruins won in three games.
UCLA d. Cal Baptist 30-26, 30-21, 30-28

By Diamond Leung
Daily Bruin Contributor

The victory won’t count in the official win-loss column,
but it was certainly a necessary one.

In an exhibition match Wednesday night, the No. 4 UCLA
men’s volleyball team (4-3, 0-1 MPSF) swept California
Baptist (4-6) 30-26, 30-21, 30-28 at Pauley Pavilion.

“It was a good win,” freshman libero Adam Shrader
said. “It was good that we get another win under our
belts.”

The win didn’t come as easy as the final score indicates,
though.

Matched up against the top-ranked Lancers of the National
Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, the Bruins struggled in
the early going. They spotted the Lancers an early lead in the
first game with a combination of sloppy passing and defense.

“We came out real slow, and we just had to pick it
up,” Shrader said.

Sophomore outside hitter Rafael Paal led the charge for the
Lancers, finishing with a match-high 24 kills. He befuddled the
Bruins all night long, mixing in power with an often unorthodox
style of hitting.

“He sure has a lot of shots,” UCLA head coach Al
Scates said.

However, the frustrated Bruins regrouped and took the first
game.

In the second game, Scates replaced struggling sophomore outside
hitter Cameron Mount with freshman J.T. Wenger. Wenger, seeing his
first significant playing time of the season, provided the spark
that the Bruins needed.

“It’s something different for me ““ definitely
exciting,” said Wenger, who notched eight kills on the
night.

“J.T. Wenger came in and gave us a good lift,”
Scates said. “He came off the bench and delivered. I think
he’ll be playing for us in the future.”

Also stepping up for the Bruins was sophomore middle blocker
Greg Coon. He started in place of sophomore Scott Morrow and made
the most of his playing time, hitting .857 to go along with six
kills and five block assists.

“Coon is very quick, and that’s what we’ve
been lacking,” Scates said. “Against real quick teams
Coon is a very good blocker.”

With Coon clicking on all cylinders, the Bruins easily took game
two. Senior middle blocker Adam Naeve capped off the game with one
of his four aces.

In the end, the Bruins were too much for the Lancers, outhitting
them .338-.158 on the way to a three-game sweep.

Junior opposite hitter Ian Burnham led the Bruins with 15 kills,
and junior outside hitter Matt Komer provided some solid passing
with six digs for the team.

“(Komer) was having one of his better passing
nights,” Scates said.

All in all, the match allowed the team to work on its game
before going back to league play.

“We picked it up a little bit today,” Shrader said.
“We played some better defense and dug some more
balls.”

“It gets us back on track,” he added. “It
gives us a little more momentum going into Pepperdine.”

The Bruins head to Malibu Saturday to take on the No. 3
Waves.