by Matt Paulson
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne men’s volleyball team notched a 1-1 record over spring break as they defeated Harvard March 23 and lost to UC Santa Barbara March 26.
The atmosphere in the Supertents was heavy as seniors Nate Michael, Jared Dodson, Will Paulson and Tom Hilton could not help but acknowledge the fact that all their memories, both glorious and melancholic, were soon to be all they had left of their home court at ULV.
The seniors led their team, once again, to the victory circle as it pounded its way to 30-21, 30-24 and 34-32 wins over Harvard.
Michael ended his last match in the Supertents as he did many times before, leading his Leopards in kills with 16 for a percentage of .407.
He was followed closely by junior Jake Swann, who managed 15 kills for a percentage of .414 and six digs.
The only four-year player on the squad, Hilton, tallied eight kills and two aces.
“Great serve, Tom!” said freshman Mark Mimms after both aces.
The following Tuesday, ULV traveled to Santa Barbara to play fifth-ranked Division I team UCSB.
The Gauchos put on a defensive clinic as they won the match in four games, tallying 57 digs to La Verne’s 38 and 13 blocks to ULV’s eight.
“This is the best defensive team I’ve ever seen. I tried everything I could offensively, and they still touched every ball on the block and dug every ball that got through,” Paulson said.
After a slow start, losing 30-18 and 30-22 in the first and second games, ULV’s main highlight was in the third when it battled to a grueling 37-35 win. This would not be enough, though, to shift the momentum fully to the Leopards’ side as they dropped the fourth game 30-25 to conclude the evening’s clash and the team’s 12-match winning streak.
“We could have won the fourth game,” said Paulson.
“We had a rough start, but we started to play better as the game went on. They are the No. 5 team in the nation for Division I, and we need to realize that we can’t just show up and beat them like Dominican or Santa Cruz,” Michael said, who, yet again, led the Leopards in kills as he marked 19.
Swann and Dave Engle followed with 13 kills a piece. Engle accumulated five blocks during the four-game feud.
“There’s not a lot that separates us from a top-five Division I team,” Paulson said as he expressed the collective confidence of the Leopard side.
“I’m really glad that we had a tough road match like this; they are a solid team. It really showed us what we need to work on before the post season,” Michael said.
The Leopards’ next match is against UC San Diego at 7 p.m. April 6 in La Jolla. This is the final match of the season, after ULV entertains a two-week break before the National Tournament in New York.
