Men’s volleybal keen on defending No. 1 rank in away match against UC Santa Barbara
Daily Bruin File Photo
Redshirt senior quick hitter Weston Dunlap and the Bruins take on the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos tonight at 7 in Santa Barbara.
By Kevin Bowman
Feb. 10, 2012 1:45 a.m.
A chorus of yells echoed throughout the Student Activities Center early Thursday morning as a motivated men’s volleyball team engaged in an intrasquad scrimmage to end its practice.
It is this level of intensity that has propelled UCLA to the top of the national American Volleyball Coaches Association rankings, as the team was named No. 1 earlier this week.
UCLA will test out its new prestige in an away match against No. 14 UC Santa Barbara today.
The Bruins, however, are quick to temper the excitement of their top rank.
“(UCLA being named No. 1) means that BYU lost twice to Stanford,” said coach Al Scates.
“Their best player has a broken hand and will be out four to six weeks. So Stanford upset them at BYU. So that’s why we’re No. 1. And the fact that we beat ‘SC three straight sets and Stanford three straight sets. So I think we deserve to be No. 1 in light of those things.”
Redshirt senior quick hitter Weston Dunlap also pointed out that it’s still early in the season.
“We really want to be that at the end of the year. That’s the most important thing to us because it means we probably get an automatic bid into the Final Four. So it’s exciting to be No. 1, but it doesn’t mean anything because we haven’t played BYU or Irvine yet,” Dunlap said.
The Bruins are certainly deserving of their top ranking based on statistics alone. The squad leads the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in nearly every major category, with 130.5 total blocks, 3.18 blocks per game, holding opponents to a .191 hitting percentage and hitting .366 themselves.
Add to that their nation-leading record and a nine-match winning streak, and it’s not a question of whether the Bruins are worthy of their ranking, but why it took so long for them to get it.
The Bruins’ rank is just one of many changes that has occurred since their last matchup against the Gauchos two weeks ago.
Since that match, which UCLA (11-1, 6-0 MPSF) won in three sets, the Bruins had their 21-set winning streak snapped and showed signs of mortality in their 3-2 win over Pepperdine Waves last week.
UC Santa Barbara (3-6, 1-4) is also a different team from the last time it played UCLA.
“What’s changed for Santa Barbara is they have a new opposite named (Kevin) Donohue, and he went 31 swings and hit .452 against Pepperdine,” Scates said. “And we struggled with Pepperdine ““ won in five. Santa Barbara beat them in four.
“Santa Barbara improves with this switch. Also they brought in two very good blockers as new starters, so all of a sudden, their team can block, whereas before they had one of the weakest blocks in the league. So their coaches made three good changes.”
The Bruins will face a much tougher Gaucho team than they did two weeks ago. Santa Barbara is sure to be motivated to take down UCLA even more, not only looking for revenge but also to topple the nation’s new top team.
“Everyone wants to beat us,” said senior setter Kyle Caldwell. “We’ve got targets on our backs being UCLA, and we’re No. 1.”
UCLA will also have to overcome playing in a hostile Santa Barbara crowd.
“Their gym is notorious for heckling,” Dunlap said. “They have people running sidelines yelling profanities. They don’t really even care what their fans say. So it’s always a crazy atmosphere, and it’s always fun to play in.”
