MARY CIECEK Freshman libero Adam Shrader
passes the ball in a match against UCI at the Wyndham Hotel
Invitational. UCLA went 2-1 at the tournament. Pepperdine
d. UCLA 30-26, 24-30, 26-30, 30-27, 15-7 UCLA d. Northridge 0-23,
29-31, 30-23, 30-24 UCLA d. UCI 0-27, 30-28, 30-26
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
IRVINE, Calif. “”mdash; Maybe they weren’t hacking or
throwing up on the court, but the fact that key members of the UCLA
men’s volleyball team were sidelined with the flu last week
definitely affected their play at this weekend’s Wyndham
Garden Hotels West Coast Challenge. The Bruins lost to Pepperdine
in the first match before beating Cal State Northridge and host UC
Irvine in the last two matches to bring their record to 2-2.
“We were questionable. We all missed a couple
practices,” said sophomore outside hitter Cameron Mount.
“(The loss) wasn’t for lack of effort.”
In the first match, the No. 3 Bruins fell to the No. 8 Waves
30-26, 24-30, 26-30, 30-27, 15-7. The loss showed that they were
still suffering from the flu that forced four starters ““
senior quick hitter Adam Naeve, senior opposite Mark Williams,
sophomore setter Rich Nelson and Mount ““ from practicing for
nearly a week. Before the tournament the team managed just one
practice together on Thursday. The Bruins haven’t yet
remedied the fatigue they feel in tough five-game matches like the
one against Pepperdine.
The Bruins still put up a good fight, with three players posting
double-digit kills: Naeve (12), Mount (16) and Williams (18), who
coughed all weekend. Williams and Naeve also served five and four
aces, respectively, toward a team total of 13.
“The only bright spot was Williams and Naeve, whose tough
serving kept the Bruins in the game. We scored most of our points
when they were serving,” head coach Al Scates said.
“We didn’t play very well, quite frankly,” he
continued. “We got tired. I probably should’ve
substituted. We were fading.”
Williams said the team’s exhaustion affected their
play.
“We beat ourselves more than they beat us,” he said.
“There were a lot of errors, like dropped balls.”
UCLA bounced back the next day against Northridge, winning
30-23, 29-31, 30-23, 30-24.
The Northridge game was unique for Williams, who played against
his older brother Raoul, also a senior.
“I couldn’t stop laughing,” Mark said with a
smile. “I kept on serving him, too.”
“He nailed them, every time,” Mark said. “He
blocked me once, too, so that wasn’t good.”
Mark did have two aces, though, and both Williams brothers hit
10 kills for the match, Mark at a .381 hitting clip and Raoul at a
.000 clip.
There were other star performances in the game. Naeve had 12
kills at a .647 hitting percentage. Junior outside hitter Matt
Komer served six aces, tying the school record for aces in a match
for the second time this season, while sophomore middle blocker
Scott Morrow tallied 13 total blocks.
“Morrow just took over. That was the best blocking
he’s done,” Scates said.
The Northridge match was fifth-year senior Dan Conners’
first start at setter, when he replaced Nelson.
“He’s been looking so good in practice, he’s
been stepping up real strong at the net, blocking well, just
getting a lot better,” Scates said of Conners. “We may
have a battle for the setting position.”
Conners also set the team in their finest performance so far
this season in the final contest against UCI. The Bruins hit over
.400 as a team for the first time this season and swept Irvine
30-27, 30-28, 30-26.
This game had two key substitutions: freshman Chris Peña
for Naeve and junior Ian Burnham for Komer. Exhaustion finally
caught up with Naeve and Komer, both of whom had been playing well
throughout the tournament. Naeve had only three kills when he was
pulled.
“Adam wanted to come back in but he was a step slow. I
expect he’ll break out in Hawaii,” Scates said.
UCI senior outside hitter Ty Loomis felt his team played close
against UCLA in all three matches.
“We had a lot of intensity the whole time,” he said.
“We were up all through the match, and then we would just let
up toward the middle or towards the end.”
“The best thing is that it’s still preseason,”
Loomis said. “It’s good that (this loss) happened now
before the season starts.”
The constant substitutions and the replacement of Nelson by
Conners has made the lineup indefinite.
“If the teams scouting us know what our lineup is,
they’re ahead of me,” Scates said.
The team plays next in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational in
Hawaii, which starts Wednesday.
“By the time we play in Hawaii, we’ll be at full
strength,” Scates said. “We’re not exactly in
midseason form now.”
There is a bright side to the whole flu business that has passed
from one team member to the next, and even resulted in volunteer
assistant coach Mike Sealy being sent home on Friday.
“The good news is that five starters have had the
flu,” Scates said. “The only guy left is Komer. I think
I can finally get some practices with all the starters.”
With contributions from Amanda Fletcher, Daily Bruin Senior
Staff.