By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Contributor
In the 30 years that men’s volleyball has been an NCAA
sport, no Bruin has ever left UCLA without a national championship
ring.
Today, the top-seeded UCLA squad begins the journey that 17 past
Bruin teams completed successfully as they take on fourth-seeded
Penn State in the NCAA semifinals in Fort Wayne, Ind.
After being upset and taken out of title contention in the first
round last year, UCLA earned a berth to the tournament for the 22nd
time after defeating former No. 1 Pepperdine in the MPSF conference
finals Saturday. The team will be making its seventh Final Four
appearance in eight years.
“We put ourselves in a spot where we had to win to go to
the tournament,” senior quick hitter Seth Burnham said.
“There were definite low spots in the season but we’re
peaking at the right time.”
Other than timing, UCLA has a huge advantage over Penn State
simply because the competition on the west coast has historically
been tougher than on the east coast. Penn State won an automatic
berth to the tournament as the EIVA champions.
“They pretty much dominated the east,” UCLA head
coach Al Scates said.
But out of Penn State’s 13 losses, over half came at the
hands of west coast teams. The same can be said of MIVA champion
Ohio State’s record.
Two of the Buckeyes’ three losses were to west coast
teams. That included a 3-0 loss to Pepperdine, who Ohio State will
face in the other semifinal match.
But in a playoff season that saw the MPSF’s eighth-seeded
team, Loyola Marymount, defeat top-ranked Long Beach State, upsets
have almost become the norm.
“A lot of upsets happen because teams (underestimate)
their opponents and are looking ahead to their next match,”
quick hitter Seth Burnham said. “I don’t think this is
a possibility for us. We’ve had our ups and downs, including
being upset by teams like LMU and Northridge.”
“Even though they are from the worst bracket, Penn State
is still capable of knocking teams off,” Burnham added.
Considering the competition, not looking toward the final may be
the Bruins’ biggest challenge.
The last time the two teams met in the postseason was in 1994,
when Penn State beat the Bruins to take the NCAA title. But other
than that match, UCLA has dominated the Nittany Lions. The Bruins
lead the series 15-5 and have won four straight, including a match
earlier this season at the Hawaii Outrigger Tournament. Then-No. 1
UCLA defeated Penn State in four games on its way to winning the
tournament title.
“They have some good players and I’m sure
they’re better now,” senior libero Matt Davis said.
“But we’re a lot better, too.”
“We played them before and beat them so we’re
confident we can beat them again,” he added.
But this time around Penn State has a surprise in the form of
freshman all-conference hitter Carlos Guerra. A winter admit from
Tampico, Mexico, Guerra leads the Nittany Lions in kills (520),
digs (186) and aces (37).
“He’s their best player,” Scates said.
“He’ll be the guy we have to stop.”
Another Penn State weapon is setter Jose Quinones, an
All-American selection.
“(Quinones) dumps a lot,” Burnham said.
“He’s probably the best in the nation at
dumping.”
Despite the fact that the Nittany Lions will boast a slightly
different lineup than from their first match against UCLA in
Hawaii, the Bruins aren’t worried. In every category, from
blocking to digging to hitting, UCLA still puts up bigger numbers
across the board.
“Programs stay the same and we saw a major part of their
attack earlier in the season,” Burnham said.
“We’re feeling pretty good about the match.”
And if tradition holds true, the Bruins have good reason to be
confident.
“We’ve been to 21 other Final Fours in the last 30
years and we’ve always won the semifinal match, so we expect
to win,” Scates said.