Daily Bruin File Photo Outside hitter Matt Komer spikes the ball against Pepperdine last season. Long Beach State d. UCLA 30-24, 30-26, 30-20
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
They were just preseason and exhibition matches, but some members of the UCLA men’s volleyball team were still disappointed they played so poorly at last weekend’s Long Beach Tournament.
“We didn’t quite get the results we wanted,” sophomore opposite Cameron Mount said. “We went in wanting to win as badly as we always do, but we didn’t play up to our potential.”
The team lost two out of three exhibition matches and got swept in the feature match of the day against Long Beach State.
Still, head coach Al Scates isn’t worrying just yet. After all, he says, the matches let him see what his players are made of.
“It’s been a typical fall for us,” Scates said. “All in all, I’ve looked at a lot of players, probably more than in the past.”
The defending champion Bruins lost in three games to the host 49ers, 30-24, 30-26, 30-20.
“Yeah, I’m surprised,” sophomore setter Rich Nelson said. “Long Beach is good but I didn’t expect them to sweep us.”
According to Scates, the 49ers simply dominated the Bruins.
“Long Beach outplayed us in every aspect of the game except blocking, and they blocked well. They’re ready to go,” he said.
Three Bruins had five blocks apiece: redshirt freshman opposite Jesse Debban, sophomore outside hitter Cameron Mount and sophomore middle Scott Morrow.
Junior outside hitter Matt Komer led the Bruins with 17 kills and senior quick hitter Adam Naeve was second with nine kills. Naeve also had three digs and five blocks.
For the 49ers, the seniors led the way. Opposite Dave McKienzie had 20 kills, four digs and four blocks, outside hitter Jim Polster had 15 kills, and seven digs and middle blocker Matt Prosser added seven blocks.
“Things weren’t clicking,” Mount said. “(Our play) seemed supernatural, beyond my control.”
In the first exhibition match of the day, the second string lost to UC San Diego’s first string 30-24, 28-30, 15-13. After that the Bruin first string took over. The starting unit lost to USC 30-26, 30-28, 15-13 and beat UC Irvine 30-26, 25-30, 15-13.
“We saw our opponents at full strength and they beat us,” Scates said.
The Bruins do not have their whole starting lineup just yet. Senior Mark Williams, who played outside hitter last year but might shift to opposite this year, is out with a stomach pull that he got after playing for the Australians in the Olympics.
Another good thing about the weekend is that Scates got exposure to his freshmen.
“I have a lot of freshmen I haven’t seen play, so I know their strengths and weaknesses, and what to do to improve those weaknesses,” he said.
The team may have performed poorly last weekend, but no one is hanging their head just yet. If there’s one thing the 18-time national championship-winning Bruin program is known for, it’s confidence.
“We lost in three games to Long Beach last year in the fall and came back and did more than OK at the end,” Mount said, referring to the team’s national title last year.
“We’re still very confident. We always are,” he added.
Scates was more blunt.
“I would say Long Beach is No. 1 in the preseason, which is OK with us. I would say ‘SC is No. 2, based on what we saw,” he said. Then he smiled and added, “But of course, we’ll win the NCAA Championship.”