Last night the #3-ranked UCLA Men's Volleyball team soundly defeated #9 Cal State Northridge in three straight sets, 25-18, 25-15, 25-12 as they improved to 8-1 on the season, 3-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference.

Sadly, the game was played in front a very, very sparse crowd on Collins Court at the John Wooden Center. So I'm writing now, with my grainy unfocused photos as usual, to encourage everyone to attend a game or two or more and salute the legendary Coach Al Scates in his 50th and final season.

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Gonzalo Quiroga (left) and Thomas Amberg (right) combine to stop a Matador attack.

After taking first place at the Outrigger Hotels Invitationals in Honolulu last weekend, the Bruins returned home for the first time this season to face Cal State Northridge. The Bruins were firing on all cylinders, as they defeated the Matadors 3-1.

Figuring huge in the Bruins' victory was the return of junior quick hitter Thomas Amberg and junior setter Kyle Caldwell, who had been injured prior to the season. Amberg returned to play in the tournament last weekend, and this was Caldwell's first game this season.

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(Photo source: UCLA Official Site)

I know it’s not the greatest news, but hopefully this will be a welcome diversion from football and basketball talk.

The #9 UCLA Men’s Volleyball team opened its season at the UCSB Invitational January 7-8. With a 2-1 record and having defeated #11 Long Beach State, UCLA came away with a third-place finish out of eight teams participating in the tournament. #5 BYU finished first, and #10 UCSB came in second ahead of UCLA.

This week the Bruins travel to rainy Honolulu to play in the 17th annual Outrigger Hotels Invitational against #8 Penn State, #15 Ball State and #6 Hawai’i. The Daily Bruin reports that three players are down with injuries so UCLA definitely will have a tough set of matches against these powerhouse opponents. Let’s keep them in our thoughts and wish them luck as they play on the 13th, 14th and 15th!

UCLA will then come home to play the conference-opener and home-opener against #12 Cal State Northridge on Wednesday, January 19th at 7 pm at Pauley. The last time UCLA and CSUN met in the regular season, CSUN was ranked #1 and UCLA came back from 0-2 to win the game 3-2. In the pre-season this past November, UCLA swept CSUN 3-0 in the Student Athletic Center tournament. CSUN will be out for blood at Pauley next week. Let’s hope the Bruins can fight them back!

I’m pretty much a volleyball novice but if you don’t mind, I’d like to share some thoughts and observations on the team and the coming season after the jump. (And if you do mind, just skip the jump, please.)

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Senior Dicey McGraw recorded her 13th-career double-double at the game against St. Mary's on Friday. (Photo credit: UCLA Athletics)

After the retirement of long-time coach Andy Banachowski, the winningest Division I women's volleyball coach in history, the UCLA women's volleyball team could have faltered. But the hiring of Mike Sealy, a former Bruin player for legendary Al Scates who had spent the last four years as an assistant at Hawai'i, one of the best programs in the country, boded well. And Sealy has not disappointed. UCLA started off the season with a 5-1 record, including a sweep at the SJSU/SMC Tournament last weekend (and a three-set sweep of Kansas State in the season opener).

The Bruins play their first home game of the season on Wednesday, September 8th at 7 pm at Pauley Pavilion.

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The men's volleyball team came off of a 12-day hiatus and was moved from Pauley tonight to Collins Court in the Wooden Center to make way for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards prep, but that didn't phase them any as they completed a sweep of the Grand Canyon University Antelopes in one hour and 22 minutes, dominating in all three sets, 30-17, 30-14, 30-20.

I'm sorry to report that I didn't take notes as I usually do, thinking this was on Gametracker. Apparently it was not, so I'm only going to be able to write up some of the highlights my feeble mind can recall. I apologize in advance, also for forgetting my camera.

The first set started with a service error but fortunately that didn't slow down the Bruins any as they jumped to a 7 point lead in no time. Senior outside hitter Garrett Muagututia and RS sophomore opposite Jack Polales were dominating as usual, each quickly racking up kills. Unfortunately many of the Bruins were a little rusty on the serves and handed several points to the Antelopes, but the Bruins got the ball back each time with well-executed kills. The Antelopes never had a chance as the Bruins handily took the set, 30-17.

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Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

(L-R: sophomore setter Kyle Caldwell, freshman outside hitter Chen Levitan, sophomore opposite hitter Nick Vogel ready for the serve by UCSD on 2/24 - sorry, forgot my camera today)

Our boys are back. The #5 UCLA men's volleyball team came off of two straight-set losses to UC San Diego and Long Beach State to defeat the visiting Lewis University Flyers from Illinois in three straight sets, 30-22, 30-27, 30-25. RS sophomore opposite hitter Jack Polales was in full force today, leading the team with 18 kills and hitting at a .556 clip.

The first set started out with a strong attack by Lewis junior Brian Muesenfechter (whom even the announcer was calling by his nickname Moose) off of a block attempt by Polales. But Polales came back with a kill on the next play to take the ball back. From there the Bruins jumped to a 4-2 lead. But the Flyers caught up and although Polales scored the next three offensive points, UCLA committed some service errors and weren't able to pull away from Lewis until UCLA scored four straight points to take a 4-point lead at 11-7. UCLA dropped the next point but came back to take three more, including a fantastic kill by Polales over Lewis blockers and a block by RS sophomore outside hitter Jeremy Casebeer.

The Bruins played with a lot of passion today, making good digs to keep the ball in play and not making mental errors during long rallies. Kills by Vogel and senior opposite hitter Garrett Muagututia, as well as a service ace by Caldwell and a well-time block by Muagututia and Caldwell, UCLA went on a 10-3 run until Lewis called its second timeout at 21-13. The timeout iced the Bruins for a couple of points but attacks from the back row by Muagututia and cross-court kills by Casebeer, as well as Flyer errors, helped push the Bruins to a 26-19 lead. UCLA stayed sharp, executing blocks and kills, and although the number of service errors remained high, Polales pounded in a kill to take the set, 30-22.

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(Senior Garrett Muagututia, freshman Jonathan Bridgeman and RS sophomore Weston Dunlap ready for a serve)

In a bizarre turn of events, the #3 UCLA Bruins, just after knocking down then-#1 CSUN in five sets, dropped three straight sets to the #14 UCSD Tritons and snapped a 3-game winning streak. UCSD, an MPSF conference opponent, came in with a record of 4-11, 1-9 in conference.

The first set started out innocently enough, with each team building up to a 3-3 tie. The Tritons then knocked three powerful kills into Bruin territory, and successfully blocked senior Garrett Muagututia to jump to a 3-6 lead. After a UCLA timeout, sophomores Nick Vogel and Kyle Caldwell executed a perfect block to take a point. After a Triton kill, Caldwell snook in a hard dink, but UCSD answered with another kill. Although the Bruins had some nice digs, they weren't able to finish off the rallies and at times, showed some miscommunication as a toss fell between players. The Tritons had no problems, however, as they ran off with four points in a row. RS sophomore spiked a ball into Tritons territory but the Bruins weren't able to take advantage of it as sophomore Thomas Amberg served into the net. Thanks to phenomenal quick hits by Triton Cyrus Kiani, UCLA fell behind 11-20, when freshman Jonathan Bridgeman and senior Kevin Kerr substituted into the game.

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Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

via the official UCLA site

The UCLA Men's Volleyball team came back from behind and outlasted the #1 Cal State Northridge Matadors in five sets to take the match, 27-30, 28-30, 30-28, 30-14, 15-12. After five road matches in a row, the Bruins came home to start an eight-game home stand tonight at Pauley.

UCLA scored first with a kill by senior Garrett Muagututia. But the Matadors star player Jacek Ratajczak countered with a kill of his own, and raised the ante with a service ace. Bruins continued to deal attacks by Muagututia, RS sophomore Jack Polales, senior Kevin Ker, and sophomore Thomas Amberg. CSUN kept pace, however, with kills by Ratajczak and Kevin McKniff and, unfortunately, service and attack errors by the Bruins. Kills and blocks gave the Matadors a four-point lead at 11-14. Attacks by Polales and sophomore Nick Vogel kept the Bruins hanging on, but the Matadors continued to rack up points with their kills and UCLA errors up to 16-24. Polales continued to knock in kills and RS junior Dylan Bowermaster and Amberg set up some blocks, but the Bruins continued to trail, 19-28. The Bruins recorded two 4-0 runs to narrow the lead to two at 27-29, but a Bruin service error handed the set to CSUN, 27-30.

Looking to even the score, the Bruins jumped ahead in the second set to a 3-0 lead. Polales, Vogel and Muagututia knocked in multiple kills and the Bruins put up several blocks but they could never quite shake the Matadors off. CSUN errors contributed to a 21-16 lead by the Bruins, but Ratajczak and the rest of the team rallied back to even the score at 24-24. Multiple kills by Matadors Tanner Nua, Theo Edwards and Ratajczak, combined with UCLA errors, allowed CSUN to take the lead and run with it until Matador Mike Gaudino nailed in a kill to take the set, 28-30.

Down by two sets, UCLA started off the third set with a kill by Polales, but allowed CSUN to take the lead back. Kills by Amberg, Vogel and RS sophomore Jeremy Casebeer brought the Bruins back to tie the score at 10 each, then both teams traded sideouts until UCLA began to pull away with a 4-0 run to take the lead at 26-22. In a now-familiar tune, CSUN kills and UCLA errors allowed the Matadors to catch up to 28-28. Polales smashed a key attack and a CSUN error gave UCLA the first set of the match, 30-28.

UCLA came out with the big guns in set four.

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(Coach Al Scates imparts words of wisdom during a timeout at the 1/20 game v. Pepperdine - sorry I don't have any more recent pics of my own)

The #6 UCLA Men's Volleyball team traveled to face #8 UC Santa Barbara and took the four-set match, 30-28, 30-25, 19-30, 30-24.

In the first set, UCLA fell behind due to multiple kills by Gauchos Jeff Menzel and Jake Rosener but kills by senior Garrett Muagututia and sophomore Nick Vogel and a block by Muagututia tied the set at 5. Both teams traded kills and the lead, but attack and service errors by the Gauchos allowed the Bruins to slowly pull away. Sophomore Thomas Amberg, RS sophomores Jack Polales and Jeremy Casebeer, Muagututia and Vogel continued to hammer in kills taking the Bruins to match point 29-25. Two UCSB kills and a Bruin attack error kept the Gauchos alive at 29-27 but after a UCLA timeout and one more UCSB kill by Menzel, the Bruins finally blocked a UCSB attack to take the set, 30-28.

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via grfx.cstv.com

On Friday night, the UCLA Men's Volleyball team was upset by the #5-ranked Stanford Cardinal in three straight sets, 24-30, 23-30, 24-30. The next night, they came back strong, sweeping unranked Pacific 30-26, 30-26, 30-27. The Bruins brought their record up to 7-6 (6-4). The win over Pacific is the third out of four consecutive road games.

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Bumped. If you haven't done it yet, you can read Part I over here. BTW you can get most up to the minute updates on UCLA baseball via Rye's UCLA baseball tweeter account. If you are a college baseball fan I'd recommend you follow him. GO BRUINS. -N

(Kids run the bases as Andy Lopez chews out the Arizona team after a 8-6 loss to the Bruins.)

Thanks for reading, here are the rest of the 10 Reasons.

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Hawai'i sought to avenge last night's loss at this match against the UCLA Bruins at the Stan Sheriff Center but the Bruins fought for and took the game in four sets, 30-26, 23-30, 30-25, 30-28. This win gives the Bruins a 5-3 conference record, 6-5 overall.

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Bumped. GO BRUINS. -N

I wrote this up for some of my friends and former classmates who are not much into baseball or even sports at all. There's really no heavy analysis, just my personal thoughts. Some of the stuff is pretty basic and many of you know much more about Bruin Athletics than I do, but please bear with me.

It's here! The UCLA Baseball 2010 season will start very, very soon. There will be an Alumni Game on Saturday, February 6th where, thanks to a NCAA rule change this year, the current team will be able to play against the alumni. (*UPDATE: Due to the rain, the Alumni Game has been canceled and will not be rescheduled.) Then the non-conference games start on February 19th with the MLB Urban Invitational against teams from across the country - Southern, Bethune Cookman and Cal State Northridge. UCLA Baseball is known for its tough schedules and this year is no exception with games against teams like Nebraska and Mississippi State on the list as well as nationally-ranked SoCal/Pac-10 opponents like UCI, Fullerton and ASU.

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(At the 2/29 game against BYU, the team watches the starters dominate.)

After splitting the series against BYU last weekend, the #4-ranked UCLA Men's Volleyball team traveled to Hawai'i to face the #6 University of Hawai'i Warriors at the Stan Sheriff Center. Volleyball is huge in Hawai'i, and it never ceases to amaze me just how much coverage the sport gets over there. The Stan Sheriff Center can hold 10,300 spectators and it sells out all the time. The volleyball games are broadcast on local TV, and just to see the live streaming video online costs a hair under $7 (for a single game). In contrast, UCLA barely gets out 1,000 fans (if that) and streaming video of the games are free (for the most part, I believe). And you know, UCLA has more national championships than they do. As my husband's grandmother in Hawai'i used to say, "Hoo, watsa matta wit you people. No make sense!"

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In the start of an important home series against #4-ranked BYU, the UCLA Men's Volleyball team came out strong and outplayed the Cougars to sweep them in straight sets, 40-38, 30-21, 30-24.

After snapping  a four-game losing streak by edging out UCSB in five sets last week then going on to sweep then-#2 CSUN in an unbelievable straight-set match, UCLA (3-4, 2-2) needed to prove that those wins were not a fluke by defeating the BYU Cougars (5-2, 3-1), who had beaten the Bruins earlier this year in a non-conference tournament at UCSB. UCLA also needed to avenge last year's loss to BYU in an embarrassing sweep at Pauley.

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Bumped. A fantastic Saturday for UCLA athletics. GO BRUINS. -N

(From Wednesday's game v UCSB: RS sophomore Jack Polales (standing). (L-R) Junior Tom Hastings, senior Garrett Muagututia, RS sophomore Jeremy Casebeer)

It's been an exciting Saturday but I'd like to think the winning streak this weekend started with the Men's Volleyball team on Friday night as they swept the #2 Matadors in Northridge in straight sets, 30-21, 30-24, 30-21. I couldn't be there but I was shocked when I checked in with Gametracker shortly after the game ended. Read about the game on the official site here.

The Bruins out-played the Matadors in every facet of the game - services aces (eight!), kills, blocks and digs. It sounds like this team is finally coming together.

With this key win under their belt, the 3-4 (2-2) Bruins will host BYU for a weekend series on Friday the 29th and Saturday the 30th at Pauley. First serve on both days will be at 7 pm. Go Bruins!

The UCLA men's volleyball team garnered a much-needed conference win (and a win in general) against the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos Wednesday night at an unexpected home game due to rain and flooding in Santa Barbara.

In the first set, the Bruins showed much improvement from last week's game against Pepperdine. They were confident and relatively error-free, communicating well on the court and nailing critical kills and blocks. I'm no official statistician but I counted four service aces in this set. Four! Now this is a team to get excited about, I thought (never mind that a couple were tripped up by the net and luckily landed in Gaucho territory). Owing to decisive spikes by senior Garrett Muagututia and RS sophomore Jack Polales, as well as well-timed dinks and blocks by Polales, RS sophomore Jeremy Casebeer and senior Kevin Ker, the Bruins surged to a 12-5 lead before UCSB called a timeout.

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Because of heavy rains and flooding in Santa Barbara, the men's volleyball game against UCSB has been moved to Pauley tonight. First serve is at 7:30 pm. Admission is FREE. Come out and support if you can, because of the change I'm afraid there won't be many fans there.

UCSB is tied for fifth place in the conference with a 1-4 (1-1) record. UCLA goes in with a 1-4 (0-2) record.

[L-R Sr Setter Kevin Ker, RS Soph Weston Dunlap and Sr Outside Hitter Garrett Muagututia ready for the attack.]

[Disclaimer: Hi Bruins! This is my first FanPost and I haven't reported on a volleyball game since writing for the high school paper nearly 20 years ago, so this may not be as well written as other FanPosts. My apologies in advance.]

As many of you know, UCLA Men's Volleyball is one of the most storied programs in the nation, as a holder of 19 NCAA titles and headed by the winningest coach in the history of the NCAA. To me, volleyball is a very unforgiving sport. There's no margin for error. In baseball, if you strike out, does the other team score a run? No. In basketball, if you miss a free throw, does the opposing team record a basket? No. But that's in effect what happens in volleyball. Even if you're on offense (serving), if you hit a ball into the net or allow the other team to spike the ball down the middle, or if you block a spike but the ball goes out of bounds, not only does the other team get the ball, they score.

That makes for a very fast-paced, exciting game, especially when you're watching very good players who've honed their craft so sharply that every move is deliberate and smooth, yet quick and deadly. Unfortunately, UCLA right now isn't that kind of team. All the more reason Al Scates needs our support in his quest for the 20th championship!

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