By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA men’s volleyball team will face one of its
toughest opponents of the season tonight: themselves.
As if playing against the top teams in the nation weren’t
enough, the Bruins will have to face some of the best players from
the past when they take on the UCLA alumni.
With current assistant coach John Speraw as their coach, the
alumni boast a tentative roster with five All-Americans, two
Olympians and more than 28 national championship rings.
“They’ll be a lot stronger than most opposing
teams,” Scates said. “It depends on Speraw; if he keeps
in the top six then they’ll be as good as anyone we
play.”
Among those returning are Kevin Wong (’95), a 2000
Olympian and two-time All-American; Matt Davis (’00), the
2000 Libero of the Year; and Jeff Nygaard (’95), a four-time
All-American, two-time Collegiate Player of the Year and former
National Team member.
Wong, Davis and Fred Robins (’99), who flew in from Hawaii
just to play, will handlez the passing duties for the alumni.
“We actually, at this point, could be the better passing
team,” Speraw said.
Mike Sealy (’93), a three-time All-American and current
volunteer assistant coach, is scheduled to set alongside Brandon
Taliaferro, a four-time All-American and the 2000 Most Outstanding
Player.
“Those two guys are gonna give the hitters great
sets,” Scates said.
The alumni have won the past couple of years, which is actually
paradoxical.
“We should have all the advantage,” junior opposite
Ian Burnham said. “We’ve been practicing as a team;
theoretically we’re younger and should be in better
shape.”
But the alumni come back and give the baby Bruins a little
lesson in losing.
“They just put together a team and end up spanking
us,” Burnham said with a laugh.
But don’t give them too much credit.
“Usually it’s fun for the first couple games and
then the alumni get real tired real quick and they just want to get
out of there,” Speraw said.
“The alumni get excited to play so they can go out to
Westwood,” he added.
While it may be all fun and games for the alumni, the current
squad will take advantage of its chance to play a good game without
affecting its official record (6-3).
“The fact of the matter is that we haven’t settled
on a line-up yet,” Scates said. “We use a lot of
different players in different positions.”
“It’s a chance for me to look at people in different
positions,” he added.
For his first match on the alumni team, Taliaferro has got the
whole thing in perspective.
“I looked over there the last four years and those guys
looked like they were having so much fun,” he said.
“It’s a good chance to see old friends, laugh, have
fun and hopefully kick those young bucks and teach them a thing or
two.”