SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—In the end, coach John Speraw only had one regret. The Bruins had finally found the right lineup after a season plagued by a multitude of injuries.

Spencer Rowe plays with coolness in his head and fire in his heart.
While his next match might be his last, he’s played as if that were the case all season.

The win was comfortable, straightforward and relatively simple for the Bruins. The same cannot yet be said about their playoff position.
Two wins in their last two games – it was the only way the UCLA men’s volleyball team could assure itself a spot in the postseason conference tournament.

All Spencer Rowe wanted for his birthday was a win.
Wins have come few and far between for UCLA men’s volleyball lately, but on Saturday night the Bruins finally earned themselves a coveted match point.

He wasn’t supposed to play all season, let alone start. It was a foregone conclusion that freshman setter Jake Reeves would redshirt the year, but then the injuries began to pile up.

The Bruins had a setter playing at libero. They had another setter playing at outside hitter. They had a middle blocker playing at opposite hitter. They were mixing and matching, searching for an answer, but the No.

The door to the film room was closed, but coach John Speraw’s voice still echoed throughout the lower-level hallways of Pauley Pavilion. The exact words were difficult to make out, but the urgent, angry tone was not. 

It was a spontaneous decision, one that coach John Speraw described as “off-the-cuff.” After one too many mindless errors during Monday’s practice, Speraw told players to grab their bags and get out of the gym.

When it comes to going to Hawaii, the UCLA men’s volleyball team has two traditions: winning and eating malasadas.
“We always make a stop at Leonard’s, it’s a malasada place.

It was a glimpse into the future of UCLA men’s volleyball. It was a showcase for arguably the best recruiting class in the nation.
Coach John Speraw threw four freshmen into the starting lineup on Sunday afternoon, but the No.