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Redshirt senior quick hitter Nick Scheftic fueled an early run by the Bruins that just never ende

When one talks about UCLA volleyball’s team from last season, the first thing mentioned is the heartbreaking five-game loss to Pepperdine in the championship match.

That painstaking loss ended the careers of fabled seniors Paul Johnson, Kris Kraushaar and Jonathan Acosta, who had been instrumental parts of the program during their four years with the team.

That loss is why this year’s seniors, Damien Scott, Paul George, Dennis Gonzalez and Nick Scheftic, are working hard to make sure this season ends differently.

“This is our final go around,” Scheftic said. “We know that if we lose at anytime, our careers are over.”

But this year’s seniors are much different than the ones who graduated last year.

They saw very little playing time during their first three years in the program and are now trying to create their own identity for this season’s team.

“We were all watching from the bench during that championship match,” outside hitter George said. “So when we knew we had the chance to play against Pepperdine (on Thursday), we knew we had to take advantage.”

And the seniors certainly proved their worth.

George led the Bruins in kills for the first time all season with a game-high 16, and Scheftic had the highest hitting output of the season.

The seniors in fact accounted for 11 of the Bruins’ 12.5 blocks in the game.

“They stepped it up when they needed to,” Gonzalez said of his fellow seniors. “They were all over the net and didn’t let the Waves didn’t any momentum.”

But it certainly didn’t come easy for the seniors this season.

The Bruins began this year with the second-worst start in their unparalleled history, and many of the seniors – including Scott, George and Gonzalez – had been replaced in the lineup by younger, unproven freshmen.

“I knew I didn’t want to end my career like that,” George said. “I knew our team was better than the way we were playing.”

The seniors’ season now comes down to Saturday, where the Bruins will be playing for a trip to the Final Four.

They will be facing the Long Beach State 49ers, the team that eliminated the Bruins in the playoffs two years ago.

But if their recent 11-match winning streak is any indication, the Bruins and their seniors will be ready.

“I can’t wait,” Gonzalez said. “Our backs against the wall, everything on the line, it’s all we can ask for.”

AT-LARGE BID: After losing to Long Beach State in the semifinals Thursday, UC Irvine coach John Speraw was confident that the Anteaters would still get the conference’s at-large bid.

The Anteaters finished the season with a 20-2 record and were first in the conference standings.

“We definitely think we deserve that spot,” Speraw said. “If you look at the criteria, we were the most consistent team throughout the season, and we had a better won-loss record against our close opponents.”

UCLA received the at-large bid last season after losing to Cal State in the MPSF quarterfinals.