Team¹s smallest player gives biggest boost

Published: Wednesday, January 29, 1997

Wednesday, January 29, 1997

M. VOLLEYBALL:

Nguyen, an 'emotional spark plug,' may start at swing hitterBy Vytas Mazeika

Daily Bruin Contributor

The smallest player on the court for UCLA will play the most important role for the Bruins tonight emotional spark plug.

The UCLA men's volleyball team begins league play today against California State University, Northridge, and 5-foot, 10-inch senior back-row specialist Trong Nguyen may get to start at swing hitter.

"Trong always seems to fire the team up," UCLA Head Coach Al Scates said. "It's a pretty quiet team. Stein Metzger was verbal and excitable last year and Trong is like that.

"We just seem to play better when he is in the lineup."

Although Northridge (4-1 overall, 1-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) has gotten off to a hot start, the Bruins (1-1, 0-0) may not need much of a spark to win. UCLA has dominated the series losing only twice in 31 matches. The victories against Northridge include a three-set sweep during last year's championship season.

UCLA's home court dominance can partly account for the large gap in wins between the two teams in this series. The Bruins will host the match at Pauley Pavilion, and Scates believes that that gives UCLA an advantage.

"Playing at Pauley is pretty intimidating to other teams because it is such a large arena," Scates said.

Two players who will be factors in the match for Northridge are Collin Smith and Chad Strickland, who average 6.3 and 5.5 kills per game, respectively.

These two lead the MPSF in hitting. UCLA must contain them to beat Northridge before its showdown against UC Santa Barbara on Friday.

But Scates is not looking ahead. He knows that the team gained some momentum at the tournament in Hawaii last weekend.

Scates will play only the starters for much of the match a vast change in philosophy compared with last weekend where all 12 players received some action.

One of those starters is the smallest of all the Bruins.

The game is free to all students with a student ID and registration card.

Daily Bruin File Photo

Volleyball star Trong Nguyen.

"Trong (Nguyen) always seems to fire the team up."

Head Coach Al Scates