Blue and gold seek revenge vs. UCSB
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 15, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 BRIDGET O’BRIEN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Junior
Matt Komer goes up for the ball in a game against
USC earlier this season. The Bruins face UCSB tonight in Pauley
Pavilion. MEN’S VOLLEYBALL PREVIEW vs. Today 7
p.m. Pauley Pavilion
By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball team is looking for a
little revenge when it takes on No. 8 UC Santa Barbara tonight in
Pauley Pavilion.
“I guess we’ve got something to prove to Santa
Barbara,” senior outside hitter Mark Wiliams said.
“Anytime you lose to a team, the next time you play them more
seriously.”
Fatigue and the flu were the main reasons the Bruins (7-3, 3-1
MPSF) faltered against the Gauchos (5-3, 3-3) in the finals of the
UC Santa Barbara/Elephant Bar & Restaurant Collegiate
Tournament on Jan. 6.
“That wasn’t our excuse though,” junior
opposite hitter Ian Burnham said. “(UCSB) really played well
last time.”
As the Gauchos are traditionally not one of the strongest teams
in the MPSF, the Bruins were also guilty of underestimating their
opponent.
“(Last time) we handled them the first two games and
thought we were going to roll right through them,” Burnham
said. “We got a little overconfident. They came out on fire
and they had all the momentum with the home crowd.”
This time around though, the Bruins have whipped themselves into
shape and know exactly what they’re getting into.
“We are definitely in good shape now so that won’t
be an issue,” Head Coach Al Scates said. UCLA’s fitness
was evident in its win over Cal State Northridge Wednesday, when
the Bruins put up 12.5 blocks on the night and served 12 aces.
“Whenever a team has trouble with our serves they become
predictable,” Scates said. “Basically it’ll
probably come down to whether or not they can pass our jump
serve.”
On the offensive side, the two teams have similar styles of
play.
“They distribute the ball quite evenly like we do so
they’re not predictable,” Scates said.
On the Bruins’ side, Burnham leads the team with 3.39
kills per game, followed by sophomore outside hitter Cameron Mount
(2.82), junior outside hitter Matt Komer (2.77) and Williams
(2.55).
The Gauchos’ top three hitters are sophomore opposite Ben
Koski, who averages 3.4 kills per game, and junior outside hitters
Andy Rivera (3.3) and David Kohl (3.2).
“They’re shorter but scrappy and they hit real hard
so blocking will be key,” Williams said. “If we block
the low hard ones we’ll be successful.”
They also have to accurately gauge the Gauchos’ game.
“We gotta just not give up and put them away in the first
three games,” Burnham said.
