For UCLA men’s volleyball it has been a long, long season.
It began with open gym practices in the fall, included the team’s dominant climb atop the national rankings and finished with a fifth seed heading into the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament.
“I would say it has been pretty damn good,” redshirt senior outside hitter Jeremy Casebeer said.
“We’ve had a few unfortunate losses where we just didn’t show up to play ““ USC, San Diego, Stanford ““ and a few really tough losses where we played really well, and unfortunately they didn’t go our way ““ BYU, Irvine, Long Beach. But I would say we’ve put together a pretty consistent season.”
But for a team laden with championship aspirations, the real season is only just beginning.
The path to an NCAA Final Four berth will be a tough one, though. UCLA will likely have to defeat three of the nation’s top-four teams to get there.
It begins Saturday night as No. 5 UCLA (22-7, 16-6 MPSF) takes on No. 2 UC Irvine (21-5, 17-5) to begin the MPSF Tournament.
A loss would, in all likelihood, spell the end of a season that began with such high expectations.
Opposite whom?
In Saturday’s loss against No. 3 Stanford (20-6, 17-5), coach Al Scates rotated three players in and out of the opposite position trying to find some consistent production.
None of the three players hit more than .000, one of the reasons why the Cardinal was able to accurately predict where the Bruins’ attack was going each time.
Sophomore quick hitter Robert Page played the best of the three at opposite by finding other ways to contribute.
“His digging was fantastic, something we haven’t had at that position, and his blocking was very solid, too. But he didn’t hit the ball hard enough to put it away. … I would say he just needs to get a little stronger,” Scates said.
Inconsistent play at the position has been a trend for UCLA all season long.
If UCLA is to win against Irvine it will need a solid performance from its opposite.
Scates didn’t respond with a definite answer when asked about UCLA’s probable starting lineup.
Dunlap does it again
Leading the nation in hitting percentage by a fairly large margin going into last weekend, UCLA’s senior quick hitter Weston Dunlap seems primed to take the crown in hitting percentage for the second consecutive season.
Yet he remained modest, crediting his teammates for the honor.
“Having an experienced team, having options at every hitting position helps to free me up. It has a lot more to do with my team than me,” Dunlap said.