Out golfing … well, not this time
Usually when the Bruins go to the Outrigger Tournament in
Hawaii, UCLA head coach Al Scates brings his golf clubs along and
plays at the course. This year, however, was different. As his team
entered the tournament with two losses, Scates decided to leave his
clubs at home and just focus on volleyball.
“I didn’t play golf for the first time,”
Scates said. “Because we were 2-2, that’s why. We
usually go over there undefeated. This time, I spent all my time
looking at videotape and planning.”
Fantastic fifth games
The two matches that the No. 5 Bruins (4-2) lost so far this
season both went five games. In the final game of the UC Santa
Barbara match on Jan. 6, UCLA lost 15-13, while Pepperdine crushed
the Bruins 15-7 in the fifth game of their Jan. 12 meeting.
But UCLA has been on a roll lately when the match makes it to
the deciding game. All three of their matches in Hawaii went five
games, and UCLA dominated in the final game.
In the exhibition match against Laval, the Bruins beat them
18-16 on the strength of its second string.
Against No. 9 Penn State they out-hit the Nittany Lions .294 to
.100 in the fifth game. That game also featured several runs: Penn
State led 1-0, but UCLA went on a 9-1 run to lead 9-2.
Later the Lions closed the lead to 10-5, but the Bruins went on
a 5-0 run to take the match. Then against No. 6 Hawaii the Bruins
out-hit the Warriors .471 to .200 in game five.
Injury update
Bruin starter Mark Williams is out with a high ankle sprain.
Williams was jumping to hit the ball in warm-ups Wednesday before
the Laval game, and as he came down he rolled his ankle, resulting
in the sprain. Although doctors said the sprain will take four to
six weeks to heal, Scates hopes that, with therapy, Williams could
be back in two to three weeks.
True freshman Jonathan Acosta (outside hitter) is also out
because of a pulled stomach muscle, his second this year. Acosta
suffered the first one in the preseason; he rested two months and
then came back, but in the first game of the year at the UC Santa
Barbara Invitational, Acosta pulled his stomach again.
Senior quick hitter Adam Naeve suffered back spasms Monday and
didn’t practice.
Question of the Day
The Jan. 10-14 Question of the Day (www.cvu.com/qod/index.html) on the
College Volleyball Update site asked, “Who are the front
runners for Men’s Player of the Year?” Out of 41
responses pertaining to Division I teams, 19 players got votes,
including two UCLA players: senior quick hitter Adam Naeve (three
votes) and senior outside hitter Mark Williams (one).
USC’s Brook Billings led all candidates with seven votes,
while Costas Theocharidis of Hawaii, Dave McKienzie of Long Beach
State and Jose Quiñones of Penn State each received four
votes. Curt Toppel (Stanford) and Scott Wong (Pepperdine) had three
votes apiece.
The Question of the Day is a site that posts the unofficial
responses of fans.
Going on 1,000
Scates, in his 39th year of coaching the Bruins, will attempt to
win his 1,000 career game against No. 2 Long Beach State this
Friday in Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m.
Notes compiled by Pauline Vu, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.