Post by bigfan on May 10, 2006 10:39:45 GMT -5
Looking back at volleyball’s path to success
UCLA’s win over USC earlier in the season launched winning streak ending in championship
JENNIFER DRADER/daily bruin senior staff
Senior Damien Scott was one of the major contributors helping the Bruins complete their season turnaround starting with the victory over USC.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Sagar Parikh
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
sparikh@media.ucla.edu
The Bruins were down 2-0, they were playing their rival USC at home, and the game was regionally televised.
Lose, and the Bruins men's volleyball team, 12-12, 5-10 MPSF at the time, would fall in serious danger of missing the conference tournament.
Frankly, as coach Al Scates said, it would have been a disaster.
But somehow, miraculously, the Bruins, after losing to USC earlier in the season for the first time in 6 years, came back to beat their crosstown rivals 3-2.
"I don't know how we did it, but we had to," Scates said. "We were just playing for a spot in the conference tournament."
"If we missed the playoffs, it would have been a disaster."
Well, that almost-disaster eventually turned into glory – the Bruins used the comeback victory against the Trojans to propel a 14-match winning streak and eventually the NCAA National Championship last Saturday.
The Bruins had plenty of great moments during their streak into the finals, but it all started with what seemed like a meaningless match at the time against the Trojans in mid-March.
"We all knew we were on a losing streak and none of us wanted to play like that or have a season like that," senior outside hitter Damien Scott said. "Even if we lose one game, I want to come out the next game and win the match, and that's the attitude the whole team had."
Following the match against the Trojans, it seemed like the Bruins were a new team. Junior outside hitter Paul George, who had the lowest hitting average on the team, starting getting his kills in the court, and opposite Steve Klosterman, who was playing out of position as outside hitter, came back fully healthy and played with a fire.
More importantly, the Bruins started to play with a purpose.
"You have to go into the gym and know that you are going to win," senior Dennis Gonzalez said. "That is the Bruin attitude. No matter what happens in the match, you know you are going to win."
Building off the momentum of their winning streak, the Bruins' seniors, Scott and middle blockers David Russell and Nick Scheftic, also began to emerge.
All three, after all, were starting for the first time in their final year as Bruins.
"It just took them a while to get used to the system," Scates said of his seniors. "But once they got confidence, you could see that transition in their play."
"I had never seen a team that has improved so much technically in one season."
Scott finished with a career-high 2.84 kills per game while Scheftic continuously improved his blocking to finish the season with a 1.01 block per game average. Russell, meanwhile, became the Bruins' best server.
Though none of the Bruins were eventually named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American team for their improved efforts, the Bruins could care less on Saturday.
Because after going through the worst season in UCLA history as freshmen, and nearly missing the postseason this season, they were the most unlikely of national champions.
"We just did everything right at the moments we needed to," Gonzalez said of his seniors. "This class has worked out the most for sure, and that extra strength helped us to win at the end of the season."
VOLLEYBALL DENIED: The NCAA Budget Committee recently denied the NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament Committee's request to increase the number of teams in the NCAA Championships from four to eight.
The Budget Committee this year received over 300 requests from sports to increase their funding, but only NCAA men's indoor track and field was approved, according to Scates.
"Men's volleyball is the most underallocated sport in the NCAA," Scates said. "Only four teams out of more than 80 get represented in the NCAA Championships."
"There are so many good teams like Long Beach, Pepperdine, BYU and Hawai'i, that are not represented."
The men's volleyball tournament committee last summer decided to approve the increase in the number of teams, but the decision now lies in the Budget Committee's hands.
According to Scates, there were only 23 men's volleyball teams when the NCAA initially approved the four-team format. There are currently 82 teams participating in NCAA men's volleyball.
UCLA’s win over USC earlier in the season launched winning streak ending in championship
JENNIFER DRADER/daily bruin senior staff
Senior Damien Scott was one of the major contributors helping the Bruins complete their season turnaround starting with the victory over USC.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Sagar Parikh
DAILY BRUIN SENIOR STAFF
sparikh@media.ucla.edu
The Bruins were down 2-0, they were playing their rival USC at home, and the game was regionally televised.
Lose, and the Bruins men's volleyball team, 12-12, 5-10 MPSF at the time, would fall in serious danger of missing the conference tournament.
Frankly, as coach Al Scates said, it would have been a disaster.
But somehow, miraculously, the Bruins, after losing to USC earlier in the season for the first time in 6 years, came back to beat their crosstown rivals 3-2.
"I don't know how we did it, but we had to," Scates said. "We were just playing for a spot in the conference tournament."
"If we missed the playoffs, it would have been a disaster."
Well, that almost-disaster eventually turned into glory – the Bruins used the comeback victory against the Trojans to propel a 14-match winning streak and eventually the NCAA National Championship last Saturday.
The Bruins had plenty of great moments during their streak into the finals, but it all started with what seemed like a meaningless match at the time against the Trojans in mid-March.
"We all knew we were on a losing streak and none of us wanted to play like that or have a season like that," senior outside hitter Damien Scott said. "Even if we lose one game, I want to come out the next game and win the match, and that's the attitude the whole team had."
Following the match against the Trojans, it seemed like the Bruins were a new team. Junior outside hitter Paul George, who had the lowest hitting average on the team, starting getting his kills in the court, and opposite Steve Klosterman, who was playing out of position as outside hitter, came back fully healthy and played with a fire.
More importantly, the Bruins started to play with a purpose.
"You have to go into the gym and know that you are going to win," senior Dennis Gonzalez said. "That is the Bruin attitude. No matter what happens in the match, you know you are going to win."
Building off the momentum of their winning streak, the Bruins' seniors, Scott and middle blockers David Russell and Nick Scheftic, also began to emerge.
All three, after all, were starting for the first time in their final year as Bruins.
"It just took them a while to get used to the system," Scates said of his seniors. "But once they got confidence, you could see that transition in their play."
"I had never seen a team that has improved so much technically in one season."
Scott finished with a career-high 2.84 kills per game while Scheftic continuously improved his blocking to finish the season with a 1.01 block per game average. Russell, meanwhile, became the Bruins' best server.
Though none of the Bruins were eventually named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association All-American team for their improved efforts, the Bruins could care less on Saturday.
Because after going through the worst season in UCLA history as freshmen, and nearly missing the postseason this season, they were the most unlikely of national champions.
"We just did everything right at the moments we needed to," Gonzalez said of his seniors. "This class has worked out the most for sure, and that extra strength helped us to win at the end of the season."
VOLLEYBALL DENIED: The NCAA Budget Committee recently denied the NCAA Men's Volleyball Tournament Committee's request to increase the number of teams in the NCAA Championships from four to eight.
The Budget Committee this year received over 300 requests from sports to increase their funding, but only NCAA men's indoor track and field was approved, according to Scates.
"Men's volleyball is the most underallocated sport in the NCAA," Scates said. "Only four teams out of more than 80 get represented in the NCAA Championships."
"There are so many good teams like Long Beach, Pepperdine, BYU and Hawai'i, that are not represented."
The men's volleyball tournament committee last summer decided to approve the increase in the number of teams, but the decision now lies in the Budget Committee's hands.
According to Scates, there were only 23 men's volleyball teams when the NCAA initially approved the four-team format. There are currently 82 teams participating in NCAA men's volleyball.