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By Daniel Miller

Daily Bruin Contributor

MALIBU — After being in the driver’s seat of the MPSF conference, the top-ranked UCLA men’s volleyball team has relinquished control of that comfortable position and now can only sit shotgun after losing 3-0 to No. 2 Pepperdine Saturday night.

The Bruins (23-4, 15-3 MPSF) were swept 30-27, 30-27, 30-23 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 3,037 at Firestone Fieldhouse in a match that they played without junior middle blocker Scott Morrow and freshman outside hitter Jonathan Acosta.

Injury has been an upsetting theme to UCLA’s season. Morrow could miss up to four weeks with a tear in his quadriceps tendon, and Acosta could return to practice as early as this week as he continues to deal with a torn abdominal muscle. The team is learning to play through the injuries.

“We have to be prepared to play without the starters,” UCLA head coach Al Scates said. The players in their place do not have a lot of experience, but the rookies will get experienced.”

Scates noted the play of freshman middle blocker Paul Johnson, who filled in for Morrow against Pepperdine. Johnson posted seven kills and two block assists, though Scates said that Johnson currently does not have the experience to block like Morrow, one of the better blockers in the country.

In addition to the injuries, UCLA was held back by its poor execution of fundamentals.

“We did not pass well,” Scates said. “Pepperdine knew where the ball was going. With the win, they will be the No. 1 team.”

The Bruins were led by sophomore middle blocker Chris Peña, who made 15 kills and had a hitting percentage of .667. Senior outside hitter Matt Komer had 12 kills as the Bruins hit only .280.

“We did not block very well,” Peña said. “The bottom line is that we want to take the loss as a learning experience. We know we can play better and we really need to work harder and buckle down because we are going to have to play more matches like this.”

Peña was correct – the Bruins did not block well, posting five blocks while the Waves had 22, stuffing the Bruins often.

Pepperdine was led by Brad Keenan – who had 12 kills and six block assists – and also got consistent efforts from its others starters, as the Waves hit at a .398 clip.

“Pepperdine and UCLA are two of the nation’s top teams, and I would be awfully surprised if our paths did not cross again later in the season,” Wave head coach Marv Dunphy said in a statement. “We served tough and blocked well, and that helps creates a lot of options for us on the offensive end.”

UCLA is 1-2 against Pepperdine this season. The loss snapped the Bruins’ nine-match winning streak and extended the Waves’ tear to nine straight victories.

One cannot help but wonder what the outcome of the match would have been had the Bruins been at full strength. While it is clear that injuries have hurt the team, Peña’s outlook may be the best way for the team to deal with its setbacks.

“There is no going back,” he said. “We have to get those guys (Morrow and Acosta) out of our heads for now. We have to concentrate on what we have.”