One match left in season will keep team on their toes

  COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Sophomore Chris
Peña prepares to take a hit from Cal State Northridge
on Wednesday. UCLA faces UC Irvine tonight.

By Diamond Leung
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

For the UCLA men’s volleyball team, there’s only one
match left in the regular season. There’s one last chance to
flex its muscles against a conference opponent, one last chance to
intimidate its first-round playoff opponent.

But UC Irvine, the team the No. 3 Bruins face on Friday, is
fighting it out for the eighth and final conference tournament
spot, and they won’t go down easy.

“Of course, a win against Irvine is big,” Bruin
junior setter Rich Nelson said. “We need it so we can stay
the third seed for the MPSF tournament and it is a very big mental
win.”

The Bruins (24-6, 16-5 MPSF) snapped a three-match losing streak
Wednesday against Cal State Northridge. Sophomores Chris Peña
and Adam Shrader are back on track after struggling against
Hawai’i last weekend.

Junior outside hitter Cameron Mount, however, continues his
hitting slump.

“Cameron struggles about every other match,” UCLA
head coach Al Scates said. “He’s hot or cold. One night
he’ll light it up. Another he won’t.”

“We want to play well going into the playoffs,”
Scates added. “We’re expecting a battle against
Irvine.”

The Bruins have defeated the Anteaters (6-15, 12-16) twice this
year. In their last matchup on March 15, UCLA only escaped with a
five-game victory. UCLA also swept UCI in January in the
Anteaters’ preseason tournament.

Still, don’t look for the Bruins to underestimate their
opponents. The playoff-hungry Anteaters could be tough.

“The match is important because a victory against
Irvine builds up more momentum for us going into the MPSF
tournament,” Scates confirmed.

And for UCLA, the postseason is all that really matters.