M. volleyball: ‘As usual,’ men’s volleyball starting lineup still a mystery

Diamond Leung
Published: Tuesday, April 27, 2004

While the UCLA men’s volleyball team leaves for a foreign land in Provo, Utah today, its starting lineup for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation semifinal against Long Beach State on Thursday will be in a familiar state – unsettled. The starter at opposite hitter will be determined by practices in the coming days. “As usual, as usual,” coach Al Scates said Monday. At opposite, freshman Steve Klosterman might have the edge after coming off the bench to tie a team-high with 11 kills in Saturday’s sweep of Hawai’i. He had missed the previous match against UC Santa Barbara due to shoulder tendinitis. Senior Marcin Jagoda started, but was replaced after a Game 1 in which he failed to record a kill and had two hitting errors. “It was an easy gamble for me to start (Jagoda),” Scates said. “If he wasn’t playing well, I could have just yanked him and played Steve.” Regardless of who starts, the depth is sure to come in handy during UCLA’s championship run. “Me and (Jagoda) have been going back and forth all season,” Klosterman said. “We try to pick up where the other leaves off. We are both pretty used to that. “Our team is a special case because we are the only team in the nation that has two starting teams. Even in practice no one knows who is starting. Everyone has to be ready to go all the time.”

HONOR ROLL: Libero Adam Shrader earned first-team All-MPSF honors as the results of a vote by conference coaches were announced Friday. It was his second first-team selection and his fourth career conference award. Middle blocker Chris Peña and Paul Johnson won second-team and third-team honors, respectively, and Klosterman, setter Dennis Gonzalez and outside hitter Kris Kraushaar won honorable mentions. “It’s nice, but it’s a team sport,” Kraushaar said. “To win the national championship – that’s our goal.” LIFE’S A BEACH: Volunteer assistant coach Jeff Nygaard and partner Dain Blanton, the No. 8-seeded team in the AVP Tempe Open, were eliminated from the tournament on Saturday. The No. 6-seeded team of former UCLA great Karch Kiraly and Mike Lambert, the eventual runners-up, beat them 21-13, 20-22, 23-21.

With reports from Daniel Miller, Bruin sports senior staff.