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Rowan expandrive wants a password7/2/2023 Pretty impressive for a guy who wound up there practically by accident.ĭuring his redshirt freshman year, McHenry was practicing as an opposite. He spends enough time there.Ī freakish athlete with a multi-sport background - he also excelled in basketball and track and field in high school - the 6-foot-7 McHenry has evolved into one of the most explosive middles in the nation. “It’s also just great to see when the people on the ‘A’ side might not be having their best nights and we need someone to put a ball away or serve an aggressive serve, we have a lot of guys on the bench who can come in and do that … There’s a lot of people who might be in the spotlight or get the attention in interviews, but we truly do need everyone on our roster.” The ‘B’ side is just pushing us every day. “The reps that the ‘A’ side is able to get day in and day out, and the ‘A’ side getting beat multiple days. “The practice gym every day is so high level,” said junior middle Merrick McHenry. UCLA’s Merrick McHenry hits against Pepperdine last month/Andy J. It’s almost like the Bruins are playing one of the best teams in the country during intrasquad scrimmages. Finding a weakness on UCLA’s roster is pretty much nitpicking. Reverse psychology? Maybe, because it’s not like the cupboard is bare in Westwood. 2) seeding, they’re the returning two-time champions with a senior setter (Jakob Thelle) who has been there before and real good leadership and athleticism.” “I think Hawaii is the favorite in that, despite their (No. The Bruins’ only losses are to Penn State and Hawai’i. UCLA beat Long Beach in both of their February meetings. Thursday, the MPSF-champion Bruins play the Big West’s Long Beach State in the first semifinal, followed by Big West-champion Hawai’i vs. The NCAA volleyball committee seems to think this could be the year the Bruins return to the top. It’s something we want to do, and we’d be proud to be the team that brought it back.” It’s a goal of ours, and it’s something we discuss. We’d like to bring back a championship to Westwood. “We’re proud to be part of the heritage here,” he said. In fact, it’s something he and his players talk about openly. Despite that, Speraw doesn’t consider the topic verboten. That doesn’t seem to bother coach John Speraw, who played on two UCLA title teams (1993, 1995) and was an assistant on three more (1996, 1998, 2000).īut in his 10 seasons leading the Bruins, a national title has eluded him. Here’s the rub: The Bruins haven’t won an NCAA title since 2006. The Bruins have set the (blue and) gold standard in the sport with 19 national championships. But that total is only slightly more than half of the number won by the UCLA men’s volleyball program.
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