Cardinal breaks UCLA’s winning streak

By Daniel Miller
Daily Bruin Contributor

When the UCLA men’s volleyball team lost sight of its game
plan against Stanford, it lost 3-1 to the Cardinal on Saturday,
snapping the Bruins’ 10-game winning streak that dated back
to the middle of January.

Top-ranked UCLA (12-2, 7-1 MPSF) lost 31-29, 24-30, 29-31, 25-30
at Burnham Pavilion, as it was punished by the play of junior
All-American Curt Toppel, who led the match with 18 kills.

“We knew they had big hitters like Toppel,” senior
outside hitter Matt Komer said. “Although we looked at tape
from last year, we didn’t block them well. Our blocking was
not up to par.”

The 949 fans that packed the small gym were mostly Stanford
fans, and the Cardinal clearly benefited from the home court
advantage.

“The gym was packed and holds half of what the Wooden
Center can hold,” UCLA head coach Al Scates said. “It
made them play their best game against us and that’s what we
see on the road.”

The Bruins beat Pacific Friday 3-1 at the Spanos Center. The
Tigers’ Dan Hofer led both teams with 22 kills as the Bruins
won 34-32, 29-31, 30-20, 30-26. Komer led the Bruins with 20 kills,
five block assists, and had a hitting percentage of .375. Junior
outside hitter Cameron Mount had 18 kills and posted a hitting
percentage of .467.

“It was a really boring, monotonous match against
Pacific,” sophomore middle blocker Chris Peña said.
“It was the first time I’ve been there and I
don’t need to go to Stockton, Calif. for a while. We
didn’t play exceptionally well but we got the job
done.”

Standout freshman outside hitter Jonathan Acosta has a torn
muscle in his stomach and did not make the trip to the Bay Area.
Due to backup Parker Smith’s broken finger, the Bruins played
true freshman Kris Kraushaar, a 6-foot-7 southpaw.

Against Pacific, Kraushaar had six kills, five digs and five
block assists. Against the Cardinal he had nine kills and two block
assists.

“Kris played well,” Peña said. “He filled
the role, and it’s nice to have a lefthander in the match to
throw the other team off.”

Komer led the Bruins with 16 kills and three aces against No.8
Stanford. Mount posted 14 kills.

“Stanford played very well as they usually do at
home,” Scates said. “Last time we played them there in
April of last year they beat us 3-0. They are a very formidable
team. We have been fortunate to go 5-1 since losing Acosta.
We’ve won some close matches and I think we’ve done
well. We just have to regroup and make some adjustments.”

Are the Bruins shaken by their first league loss? The team
captain responds in a way that only a top-ranked team’s
leader has the luxury of doing.

“We lost our first league match, and it showed us that we
can be beaten,” Komer said. “In a way that is a good
lesson to learn.”