Volleyball hoping to end recent skid
By Farzad Mashhood
March 3, 2008 9:00 p.m.
With just six weeks remaining in the regular season, the UCLA men’s volleyball team returns to Pauley Pavilion after a rough six-game road trip.
After dropping four places in the national standings, the No. 10 Bruins (10-9, 7-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) host the Lewis Flyers (11-5, 3-2 Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association) tonight and UC Santa Cruz (12-7, 7-1 Division III) Wednesday in hopes of ending their four-game losing streak and gaining momentum before facing several key conference opponents.
With only one practice between the Ball State matches and the back-to-back matches tonight and tomorrow, coach Al Scates pushed the team for a tough practice.
“(Yesterday’s) practice was very intense,” Scates said. “When we practice like this, all we need is two hours.”
The current four-game losing streak is the longest such streak since January 2007, and the Bruins will play to end it tonight against the Flyers, who own a four-game winning streak.
After switching many players around this past weekend against Ball State, Scates explained he has been working to move redshirt sophomore Brett Perrine to quick hitter. He has also been trying to move freshman Weston Dunlap to opposite, a position the Bruins have been unable to fill permanently since former opposite and Most Outstanding Player of the 2006 NCAA Championship Steve Klosterman graduated.
“Both these guys will take a little time to get strong at their positions,” Scates said. “I thought Wes improved a lot, and Brett’s blocking was pretty solid by the second night (against Ball State).”
Scates added that either Perrine or Dunlap will likely start tonight.
This week will be a busier week than usual for the Bruins, with matches lined up against Lewis, UCSC and a road match against No. 6 UC Irvine. The first two games are nonconference matches and will be something of a practice for the Bruins before they face UC Irvine on Friday night.
“If I’m thinking of using someone against Irvine, I’ll play them the next two matches,” Scates said.
The Flyers, while out of the Bruins’ conference and not an American Volleyball Coaches Association top-15 team, have faced tough competition, including No. 1 Pennsylvania State, No. 2 Brigham Young, No. 3 Cal State Northridge, No. 9 Ball State, No. 11 Ohio State, and No. 15 Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.
With redshirt senior outside hitter Jared Dayton averaging 3.78 kills per game and junior middle blocker Alex Viganky hitting 0.416, the Flyers’ front line may prove to be a challenge for the Bruins, who have hit only 0.212 over the last four games.
The Flyers will also have a slight tactical advantage because the Bruins have no film of their play. Lewis, however, exchanged game film with its division rival Ball State from their two matches this past weekend against the Bruins.
The Banana Slugs will also challenge the Bruins. Though Scates plans to switch in Perrine and Dunlap with other players he plans to play against UC Irvine, Wednesday night’s match against the Banana Slugs will be key in establishing momentum late in the season.
