• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Brett Perrine replaced Steve Klosterman in the middle during Game 3 and provided a much-needed sp

The men’s volleyball team can finally let out a sigh of relief. With mounting pressure on their backs to get win No. 2 of the conference season, the Bruins were finally able to ease their anxiety Wednesday night.

No. 8 UCLA (4-6, 2-5 MPSF) defeated visiting team No. 9 Hawai’i (2-5, 2-3) in four games 30-25, 33-31, 28-30, 31-29 in front of a raucous crowd of 776.

As with other matches this season, coach Al Scates mixed and matched until he found the right personnel to get the job done. This included starting opposite Sean O’Malley and setter Kevin Ker, both of whom were given the starting nod for the first time this season.

The arrangement could not have paid off better for the Bruins – O’Malley pounded nine kills and two aces in the first two sets alone.

“(O’Malley) started out real hot,” Scates said. “He’s probably not in very good shape (after just getting his cast removed) and we probably left him in too long. But he hit a lot of nice balls.”

UCLA was able to quash the Warriors’ top returnee, Lauri Hakala. The Bruins held him to just one kill in Game 1.

However, the Warrior middle blockers, Dio Dante and Kyle Klinger, were blocking well and hitting on all cylinders, with every swing terminating in a kill. However, the Bruins were able to outplay Hawai’i in all other aspects, especially serving.

By Game 2, however, the Warriors were giving the Bruins a run for their money, pushing the set to overtime. The Warrior block was too much in the way for the UCLA hitters: It amassed 7.5 roofs in the one game. And although the Bruins squeaked out a win, the Warriors were building momentum.

After Hawai’i broke out to an eight-point 14-6 lead in the third set, it was clear the Bruin starting lineup was tiring. Scates looked down his bench once again for a needed spark, and it came in the form of Brett Perrine.

“At the beginning of Game 3 we were just getting clobbered,” Scates said. “We just needed some new faces in there.”

Perrine, who has been switching off with Steve Klosterman in the middle and on the outside, replaced Klosterman in the middle and rattled off seven errorless kills, hitting .700.

“I just got in there and did my best,” Perrine said. “Passing was good, setting was good, and I was able to put the ball down.”

“Perrine looked really good in the middle,” Scates said. “I suited him up as the fourth quick hitter. I was real happy with him; he really looked sharp.”

With the Bruins getting back into a groove, they were ready to recover from the Game 3 loss. They wanted to be sure this match would not slip away like so many others had. Senior captain Paul George rallied his troops and yelled, “We’re winning this game right now.” His teammates responded by jumping out to a 19-13 lead.

But the Warriors always put up a fight against their traditional rival, and battled back to tie the match at 24 and again at 29. Yet, unlike in games past, the Bruins quelled this surging tide and held out to win Game 4 on a Jamie Diefenbach kill.

Diefenbach only put down four balls on the night, but none were more important than this kill that ricocheted off the 10-foot line for the win.

“(The last kill) felt great just because that was (win) No. 2 in the league,” Diefenbach said. “It felt good when we were stretching, but now we’ve got to think about (Friday).”