Men’s volleyball travels east to face Ohio State and Penn State
Senior middle blocker Daenan Gyimah leads No. 6 UCLA men’s volleyball in kills but may miss the Bruins’ next two matches this weekend. (Amy Dixon/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Men's volleyball
Penn State
Friday, 4 p.m.
University Park, PA
BTN+
Ohio State
Sunday, 10:30 a.m.
University Park, PA
BTN+
By Samuel In
Jan. 24, 2020 1:23 a.m.
The Bruins might be without one of their top hitters when they head east.
No. 6 UCLA men’s volleyball (3-1) will go to University Park, Pennsylvania, to face No. 10 Penn State (2-2) on Friday and Ohio State (5-0) on Sunday in the Pac-12 vs. Big Ten Challenge.
UCLA is coming off a loss against UC San Diego in which the Bruins played without senior middle blocker and co-leader in kills Daenan Gyimah. Gyimah missed the game due to injury and is questionable for the upcoming matches.
Senior outside hitter Austin Matautia said without Gyimah, UCLA will have to play near the pins more often.
“(Gyimah) opens up a lot for us just because he’s a huge threat at the net,” Matautia said. “Not having him allows the other team to scheme better on us because they’re not having to worry about the middle of the court as much.”
Matautia led the Bruins with 10 kills in their last match against the Tritons. In last season’s 3-0 win against Ohio State, he again led UCLA with nine kills. Matautia also had his season high in service aces in last year’s sweep of Penn State with three, but fractured his leg during the match, ending the rest of his junior season.
Gyimah was second in kills only to Matautia against the Buckeyes with seven, but led the Bruins in kills against the Nittany Lions with 11.
Even though the Bruins swept both teams, coach John Speraw said the films from those matches don’t matter because both teams have different rosters now.
“(The Ohio State and Penn State) matches were a year ago, completely irrelevant,” Speraw said. “We’re a really different team and so are they. It’s so vastly different on both sides of the net it’s not even worth looking at old tape.”
One of those new players for the Bruins is freshman setter Mads Kyed Jensen from Copenhagen, Denmark. He has started every game for UCLA this season but said he’s had difficulty adjusting to American play style.
“I’m from Europe, so the style of volleyball I’m used to is a little bit different,” Kyed Jensen said. “The game is more physical here. Guys are stronger. Guys are taller. Guys hit harder. I’m not used to that kind of speed in the game.”
After starting the season with two 3-0 losses to No. 2 BYU, Penn State is coming off a sweep of No. 15 Loyola University Chicago and a 3-2 win against No. 7 Lewis. Outside hitter Brett Wildman has led the Nittany Lions in kills in both wins with 14 and 17, respectively.
Ohio State is undefeated, having only dropped one set the entire season to Lincoln Memorial. The Buckeyes are hitting .339 as a team while holding opponents to .150 hitting.
The Bruins will be the first ranked opponent of the season for the Buckeyes.
UCLA’s match Friday against Penn State will be at 4 p.m., and the Sunday match against Ohio State will be at 10:30 a.m.