Men’s volleyball fades in Cal Baptist loss

The volleyball flew high up in the air, heading out of bounds. Redshirt junior outside hitter Dane Worley sprinted back toward the bleachers, reached out his hands and dove to save it. Worley came up short as the ball landed just inches away.

Worley’s failed save attempt just about summed up the kind of night No. 4 UCLA had against No. 6 Cal Baptist on Thursday night in Pauley Pavilion. The passes were just a bit too high, serves a bit too strong and blocks a bit too wide. The Bruins (17-10, 13-8 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) came up short against the Lancers and suffered a 3-1 defeat.

“We didn’t have a very good night. We didn’t pass the ball particularly well and we could have set the ball better,” said coach John Speraw. “We just got beat in every area of the game tonight.”

In the first set, the two teams were neck and neck with each other with the set being tied a total of 13 times. It was UCLA who found a way take the first point of the night, winning the set 25-21. Junior outside hitter Robart Page had five kills to help spur the Bruins to take the opening set.

UCLA looked as though it would extend its lead with a 5-0 start in the second set. After a quick timeout, however, Cal Baptist responded and rallied back to take an 8-7 advantage. Late in the set, UCLA trailed 24-18 with a chance to make a comeback. Instead, junior middle blocker Spencer Rowe’s block attempt went wide and UCLA lost the set, 25-18, tying the match.

Following its second set victory, the final two sets of the match were dominated by Cal Baptist. The Bruins trailed the entire third set with the fourth set no different. UCLA struggled with its serving throughout the match, and a service error by Rowe in the fourth set closed out the match.

“When we win games and dominate, we serve well. Today wasn’t our best serving night,” Page said.

Although it was a tough loss for UCLA, the team will have to prepare for an even tougher opponent this weekend. UCLA faces No. 1 BYU on Saturday  at 7 p.m. in Pauley.

“It wasn’t our best night, but we learned some lessons and one thing we’ve been really good at doing (this season) is bouncing back,” Rowe said.