By Daniel Miller
Daily Bruin Contributor
Talk about consistency.
The top-ranked men’s volleyball has swept its last four
opponents and won five straight, after beating UC San Diego
Saturday night, 30-28, 30-21, 30-22 at the John Wooden Center in
its Mountain Pacific Sports Federation home opener.
Despite the sweep, the Bruins, who have won 15 of their last 16
games, were still quick to point out flaws in their
performance.
“It was a slow start,” freshman outside hitter
Jonathan Acosta said. “We should have come out and played
harder even though we were playing a team like UC San Diego. We
have to get off to good starts no matter who we play.”
UCLA (7-1, 2-0) was lead by sophomore quick hitter Chris Pena,
who had 12 kills and three block assists while posting a hitting
percentage of .647.
“Pena was getting up quick and was hitting well against
UCSD,” UCLA head coach Al Scates said.
Freshman quick hitter Paul Johnson and freshman outside hitter
David Russell saw play in the second and third games, earning
praise from Scates.
“Johnson came in and hit the ball well,” Scates
said. “Russell stuffed the ball and served nicely
also.”
Johnson had three kills and four block assists, while Russell
had three kills, three block assists and a service ace. Senior
outside hitter Matt Komer had 12 kills and a team-leading five
block assists. Acosta had nine kills and led the team with three
service aces. Scates praised Komer and Acosta for finishing the
match well.
The Bruins opened the second game with a 4-0 run and never
looked back, despite some inconsistent serving.
“This was an average performance for us,” Scates
said. “We had a letdown after our last match, and I feel like
I had to work harder than the team.”
The Bruins were lead by Pena’s 14 kills as they beat Long
Beach State 30-28, 30-23, 30-23 in their MPSF opener last Thursday
at the Pyramid in Long Beach.