MALIBU “”mdash; It had been a house of horrors for the UCLA
men’s volleyball team.
The lights and speakers in Pepperdine’s Firestone
Fieldhouse that dangled over the Bruins made it deafeningly clear
that the Bruins had not won a single game there since 2001, when
coach Al Scates won his 1,000th career match.
Leave it to a freshman, opposite hitter Steve Klosterman, to
break from tradition.
“I liked (Firestone),” said Klosterman, who stuffed
Pepperdine All-American Sean Rooney at the net for match point.
“The lighting was funny, though.”
After the No. 3 Bruins (20-4, 14-4 MPSF) swept the Waves 30-26,
30-25, 30-25 on Saturday, Scates, who picked up his 1,079th win,
has his team peaking as it heads into next week’s matches
against top-ranked BYU.
“It’s the best we’ve played this year,”
Scates said.
Middle blockers Paul Johnson and Chris Peña and outside
hitter J.T. Wenger all had 13 kills, as UCLA hit .427 overall.
Peña, despite failing to record a block, did what he does
best, hitting .706 and getting his 13 kills on 17 swings despite a
massive taunting campaign from the Pepperdine crowd.
“He’s been playing well all year,” said libero
Adam Shrader, who had 11 digs. “He gets up so quick that
it’s hard to stop him.”
Wenger, who hit .440 and also recorded 10 digs, has led the
Bruins to wins in his three straight appearances in the starting
lineup, while continuing to hold off junior Jonathan Acosta, who is
still recovering from the effects of appendicitis, in practice.
Johnson, who had not practiced in the days leading up to the
match after injuring his back weightlifting on Wednesday, also
continues to impress, hitting .522.
Klosterman had 11 kills, and outside hitter Kris Kraushaar added
two aces.
For the second straight match, UCLA did not have to use a player
off the bench.
“That’s the way I like it,” Scates said.
No. 4 Pepperdine (15-7, 11-7), which had its four-match winning
streak snapped, was led by Rooney’s 24 kills.
UCLA, which beat USC 3-1 on Tuesday, has already clinched a
berth in the MPSF Tournament and is currently in third place with
four matches to go.
The Bruins are closing in on clinching home-court advantage in
the first round of the tournament, and if the season finished
today, they would host Pepperdine at Pauley.
Not that they would mind.
“Any team that beats us a few times, we make it right
eventually,” Scates said.