As the UCLA men’s volleyball team’s practice was coming to a close, sophomore outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga clapped his hands together in frustration as he missed a dig off of a serve. Quiroga silently retook his position, determined to do it right.
Practice had ended, but Quiroga and a few of his teammates had stayed after to work on their digging and passing in preparation for the next match.
If you didn’t look at the schedule, you wouldn’t know that UCLA was preparing for the conference’s last-place team on an eight-game losing streak, UC San Diego.
It’s this consistent focus that has driven the Bruins to their current five-match winning streak and their fourth week ranked as the nation’s top team this season.
UCLA (17-2, 11-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will attempt to extend the winning streak to six tonight against UCSD (3-15, 1-12).
For senior setter Kyle Caldwell, it’s not about the winning streak, it’s about winning in general.
“It kind of starts fresh after every game. You win one game, then after that, that game you just won doesn’t matter anymore,” Caldwell said. “You got to keep looking forward and onto the next match. Regardless of whether you win or lose, you got to keep moving on.”
The challenge for UCLA, though, will be not looking too far forward. No. 2 UC Irvine, one of only two teams to defeat the Bruins all season, awaits on Saturday.
Senior middle blocker Thomas Amberg recognizes the equal importance of each conference game.
“We understand that a win against UCSD is still one win whereas a win against UCI is also still one win in the grand scheme of things in the MPSF standings,” Amberg said. “So I think we will have no trouble keeping our focus strong for a match against UCSD.”
If UCLA does indeed remain focused, UCSD will have its hands full. The Bruins have shown few flaws in their game so far.
From hitting to serving to blocking, the team seems to have mastered the main facets of the game.
Still, coach Al Scates is looking for improvement from the nation’s best team.
“I think we can dig the ball better than we’re digging now,” Scates said. “We’re just trying to get more digs and more chances to swing at the ball.”
Both Scates and the team refuse to be content with the level of success they have achieved thus far, including their current No. 1 rank.
“We want to make sure we’re No. 1 at the end of the season and not necessarily in the middle,” Amberg said. “So winning all these matches is great but we want to make sure we’re firing on all cylinders at the end of the season.”