Men’s volleyball focuses on finding synergy with young roster
Senior outside hitter Austin Matautia is just one of four seniors for No. 6 UCLA men’s volleyball. Seventeen of the 24 players are currently either freshmen or sophomores. (Daanish Bhatti/Daily Bruin)
By Jake Greenberg-Bell
Jan. 23, 2020 1:35 a.m.
Friday’s match was the first collegiate loss for UCLA’s freshmen.
After No. 6 UCLA men’s volleyball (3-1) ended last year’s season in the final of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, the team graduated its senior class of three players and welcomed a group of freshmen.
Over the course of the past 10 seasons, the average amount of freshmen or redshirt freshmen on the team was six. But on this year’s team, 12 out of the 24 players are freshmen or redshirt freshmen. Before this season, no UCLA men’s volleyball team on record has had more than nine freshmen on the team at once.
After starting the season with three wins, UCLA experienced its first loss of the season to unranked UC San Diego. Assistant coach John Hawks said the young team is going to need more time to gel.
“We’re training the right way, we’re doing some good stuff. I think to expect immediate results might not be fair to some of these young guys,” Hawks said. “It’s going to take some growth, some learning and along the way there’s going to be some hiccups.”
In the past, the seniority of the players has not always correlated with success. When the Bruins made it to the final of the NCAA tournament in 2018, the team had nine freshmen. Only five of those freshmen remain on the team two years later.
Redshirt freshman opposite/outside hitter Kevin Kobrine – who made his first appearance against UCSD and recorded four kills – said the team must remain patient with each other but work hard to progress.
“We haven’t really played that much together because everyone is so new,” Kobrine said. “So it’s obviously going to take some time for us to find our rhythm and get some chemistry. That was our fourth game, if this was happening in March it would be a problem, but right now we just have to keep on working hard.”
Senior outside hitter Austin Matautia said the Bruins’ first loss will serve as motivation for the squad to continue their improvement.
The team will hit the road again Friday as it heads to Pennsylvania for the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge. UCLA will play against Penn State (2-2) on Friday before facing off against the undefeated Ohio State (5-0) on Sunday.
