UCLA Athletics Whip-Around 5/5: Volleyball Takes Center Stage
UCLA Athletics Whip-Around 5/5: Volleyball Takes Center Stage
Yeah there are other sports going on right now, but none of those are playing for a national championship this weekend.
This is going to be a fairly short whip-around, mostly because I wanted to highlight two things going on this weekend.
Men’s Volleyball
The super-small NCAA Tournament for men’s volleyball began a few days ago, but UCLA had its first game yesterday when they took on Long Beach State. The Bruins played Long Beach State twice this year, only dropping one set in those two meetings, and that domination continued in the national semifinal, as the Bruins won the game 25-16, 25-14, and 25-19 to advance to the national championship. I did not watch the game, but fortunately, our former staff writer Bruinette88 jumped into the comments of the last whip-around to provide summaries of each set and break things down. Just to quote her real quick:
It would be extremely difficult to pick an outstanding player from the semifinal. This squad is a true team with each player knowing and performing their roles; it’s a team that is greater than the sum of its parts. That said, freshman setter Andrew Rowan is so steady and smart in his quarterbacking of the UCLA attack, it’s hard not to see his contribution as the key to UCLA’s success today.
This UCLA team is such a joy to watch. I hope Bruins fans will tune in for the final.
You can watch a full match replay right here.
The Bruins will face a familiar opponent in the finals, as they take on Hawai’i on Saturday. Hawai’i advanced to the national championship after winning a back-and-forth 3-2 game over Penn State in the other semifinal. The last meeting between both teams did not go well for the Bruins, as they suffered one of their two losses on the season to the Rainbow Warriors by the final of 3-1. That said, the scores in that game were all close, and the Bruins did avenge their only other loss this year, so here’s hoping that game goes differently.
The national championship will take place on Saturday at 2:00 PM PT. You can watch the game on ESPN2.
Oh, and a quick congratulations to coach John Speraw, who was named national coach of the year. This is the second time he’s led the Bruins to the national championship game as a coach, and he’s looking for his first title as a coach here after winning three with UC Irvine. Of course, Speraw is also a former UCLA athlete and won two national championships during his playing career.
Beach Volleyball
UCLA is clearly a volleyball school, as the beach volleyball team also managed to earn a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament that takes place this weekend in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
The Bruins are the only team that has played so far, as they got a quick 3-0 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to advance to tomorrow’s quarterfinals, where they will take on the winner of Long Beach State and UC Berkeley. Unfortunately, a lightning storm hit the area immediately after the Bruins won, so the entire tournament is in a weather delay at the time of writing.
This should be an interesting tournament. Like with men’s volleyball, the beach volleyball team has been pretty dominant all season, only losing three of their 41 matches this year. Unfortunately, all three of the teams they lost to made the tournament, with Florida State looming as a potential semifinal opponent while Stanford and Southern Cal are potential finals opponents. That said, the Bruins have been a team possessed since losing to Stanford on April 27, winning five straight matches 3-0 and getting wins over Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Southern Cal in the process. And, barring some upsets, the Bruins should have familiarity with every potential opponent they play from here on out, which should bode well for a team that has seemingly improved in rematches this year.
The quarterfinals and semifinals will take place tomorrow, while the championship game, should the Bruins make it that far, will take place on Sunday. You can view the tournament bracket here.
Tennis
Not to leave them out, but both the men’s and women’s tennis teams made their respective NCAA Tournaments. The men’s team got placed in #4 Kentucky’s region, and have a first-round matchup with Northwestern today, while the women’s team is in #7 Duke’s region, where they start postseason play against Texas Tech. To be candid, I don’t think either squad has a chance at winning a national championship, but it would be nice to see them both do well and potentially advance out of their respective regions.
Go Bruins!
Thank you so much, DD, for highlighting the achievements of our non-revenue sports student-athletes! It is much appreciated.
With respect to the MVB final, Hawai’i looked very strong and confident against a really good PSU side. Having won the championship in 2021 & 2022, the Rainbow Warriors have a significant advantage in big game experience. Although they beat the Bruins earlier this year in the Outrigger Invitational, it’s worth remembering that Hawai’i has always enjoyed an outsized home court advantage, and its total margin of victory across 4 sets was only 3 points.
If the Bruins can match the level of their performance against Long Beach State—especially in the quality of passing—Hawai’i will be in trouble. It shapes up to be a fantastic championship.
Go Bruins!