During its upset victory over BYU last Saturday, the UCLA men’s volleyball team did almost everything well. They had their highest hitting percentage of the season at .348, they recorded 15 blocks, and setter Dennis Gonzalez had 60 set assists. But almost all those statistics were overshadowed by the Bruins’ worst serving output of the season, recording 32 service errors at a paltry .752 serving percentage. It all made for a practice Monday with a special emphasis on serving. “We have to make sure we’re going to improve, and the only way to do it is to continually practice,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “We will do a lot of repetitions and work on a lot of top-spin serves.” The Bruins’ top servers from last season, outside hitter Kris Kraushaar and middle blockers Paul Johnson and Allan Vince, have all graduated, and thus, the burden has been put on seniors Nick Scheftic and David Russell and junior Paul George to pick up the slack. So far, they’ve failed. “We haven’t done a good job at serving all year, and I am definitely one to blame,” said George, who committed seven service errors Saturday. “It seems I either hit it long or I hit it short. I just need to help find that happy medium.” Scheftic, in particular, has tried to improve by alternating between a jump serve and a pure floater. He says that he needs to find one serve that can help him be effective on a consistent basis. “Its all about concentration and technique and I’m still trying to find it,” the 6-foot-11 middle blocker said. “I need to find that one serve that gives me the confidence every time I go to that back line.”
BLOCKING ADJUSTMENTS: The Bruins have struggled so far in blocking and the reason hasn’t only been the injury of middle blocker Jamie Diefenbach, who led the Bruins at 1.42 blocks a game. It has been a combination of teams exploiting UCLA’s weakness and the Bruins not making a concerted effort to block during the match. Saturday, the Bruins outblocked the Cougars 15 to 11.5 but still allowed BYU to hit .273 overall. “We know we can improve and we need to do it,” Scheftic said. “For me, it’s a matter of improving my footwork and getting over to block the outside hitter quicker.” The Bruins have only been using two middle blockers since the loss of Diefenbach, and Scates feels that freshman outside hitter Sean O’Malley’s blocking is not to the level that he can use continually as a blocking threat. “Sean knows what he needs to improve on and it’s just a matter of getting rid of old habits,” Scates said. “If we can get him and the rest of our front line blocking, we will be very successful as a team.” So far this season, UCLA has been outblocked during all its losses and have had more blocks than the opposition during their wins.
JACKSON ACTIVATED: Freshman opposite hitter Ian Jackson has been upgraded to the active roster after initially planning on redshirting this season. The freshman has been practicing so far on the second court and Scates felt his play had improved to be moved to the first court. “It was really a surprise when he notified me,” Jackson said. “He told me I would be added the day before the BYU matches, and he just told me to be ready.” Jackson practiced with the team during the fall but with shoulder problems, and Scates felt he didn’t have the energy to make the roster. After seeing his improved play in practice the past few weeks and the disappointing play of senior opposite hitter Damien Scott, Scates felt he needed to make the move. “He has really worked hard for the position, and he has shown he is ready to be on the first court,” Scates said. “When I saw Damien being inconsistent from the opposite hitter position, I knew I had to add him.” It is still uncertain, however, whether Jackson will suit for Wednesday’s match versus USC.
QUICK HITS: The Bruins moved into a tie for No. 5 in the latest AVCA rankings released Monday. Talking about the fourth game of Saturday’s match against BYU, Scates said he could not remember the Bruins ever winning a game in which they let the opposition hit over .500. In that game, the Bruins hit .547 while the Cougars hit .522. UCLA has won both of their 5-game matches this year; Saturday against BYU and the finale of the Outrigger Classic against Hawai’i. “We just have a little something extra when we go to that final game,” George said. “I don’t know what it is.” The Bruins are 1-2 in conference play and have played fewer conference matches than any other team in the league. Defending champion Pepperdine (5-0) leads the conference.