EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Junior Matt Komer
passes the ball as freshman outside hitter J.T.
Wenger looks on. MEN’S VOLLEYBALL vs.
UCLA vs USC Wednesday 7pm Pauley Pavilion Internet
Broadcast: uclabruins.com
By Diamond Leung
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA men’s volleyball team has been doing well as of
late, but now it smells blood in the water ““ blood that
happens to be Trojan red.
Coming off an encouraging road victory that saw the team put its
game together, the No. 2 Bruins (5-3, 1-1 MPSF) will clash with
struggling No. 8 USC (3-2, 3-2 MPSF) in a league showdown tonight
at Pauley Pavilion.
“There always has been, and always will be a
rivalry,” sophomore setter Rich Nelson said. “We always
want to beat ‘SC. We’re just out to get
“˜em.”
Things are coming together for the Bruins just in time to face
their cross-town rivals.
“After our Long Beach match, we decided we needed to block
and play a lot better defense,” sophomore outside hitter
Cameron Mount said.
And that’s what they’ve been doing. After the loss
to Long Beach State, the Bruins have out-blocked and out-dug both
of their last two opponents.
“I’m seeing better team defense. That’s
what’s going well,” UCLA head coach Al Scates said.
On offense, things are also getting better. The Bruins have been
serving tough, highlighted by senior middle blocker Adam Naeve
shattering a school record against Pepperdine with 10 aces. Also,
junior outside hitter Matt Komer continues to pass well in place of
the injured Mark Williams.
“We were struggling with passing this season, but I think
it’s been coming along a lot better now,” Nelson
said.
While the Bruins have been improving, the Trojans have been in a
slump. In their last two matches, they were upset by then-unranked
UC Irvine (now No. 14) and swept at home by then-No. 8 BYU (now No.
4).
The Bruins also have confidence going into the match after
sweeping the Trojans 30-28, 30-28, 30-23 in the semifinals of a
preseason tournament in Santa Barbara.
But don’t count the Trojans out. The team returns five
starters, including All-American junior opposite hitter Brook
Billings.
“All of their players are very experienced,” Scates
said. “They’re a strong team, and we’re probably
pretty even going into this contest.”
“USC is a great team, and they always put up a good
fight,” Mount added.
The Trojans also came into Pauley last year and defeated the
top-ranked Bruins. The hard-hitting Billings put away 33 kills to
help pull off the upset.
The Bruins, however, believe that this time, things will go
their way.
“They’re a tough team, but I think we can handle
them,” Nelson said.
With the Bruins on a roll, there’s no reason to believe
otherwise.