The mood at practice may be more relaxed and fun this week than usual, but the men’s volleyball team knows it must get down to business this weekend when it takes on UC San Diego tonight and No. 5 Long Beach State tomorrow night.

The No. 4 Bruins (4-1, 2-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will play both schools in the conclusion of their four-match home stand in Pauley Pavilion.

Though UCLA has a dominating record against the Tritons and 49ers, both pose a formidable threat.

In its history with the Tritons, UCLA has gone undefeated with this Division II team, but this has not stopped UCSD from making each match a competition. In 2005, the Bruins barely edged out the Tritons in a five-game match, winning the final set 18-16.

“San Diego is what you could call a very scrappy team,” coach Al Scates said. “They haven’t beaten us yet, but they’re sure trying hard. So we have to always be on guard and play well against them.”

Although 0-2 in league play thus far, the Tritons gave No. 1 BYU a run for its money, taking the Cougars to four sets on night one and losing four of the total seven games by three points or less.

“Somehow every year that I’ve been (at UCLA) they’ve given us a tough run,” senior Tony Ker said. “They always pull something out; they’re a real scrappy team. They play like they’ve got nothing to lose, and they always give us a good showing.”

Tomorrow the Bruins will face Long Beach, which will prove to be an even more formidable threat, as the 49ers boast MPSF co-Player of the Week Paul Lotman. The senior outside hitter leads the team with 5.69 kills per game and is joined by sophomore opposite Dean Bittner’s 5.31 in the MPSF top four kill leaders.

“Lotman is an excellent player, very experienced,” Scates said. “He’ll take what you give him and sees the block well.”

As the 49ers are second in the league in hitting percentage (.367) and lead the conference in kills and assists, the offensive fire power is something the Bruins are definitely concerned with going into the match this weekend.

“They have a pretty balanced attack, having two guys in the top 10 in hitting,” Scates said. “One’s coming out of the back and one’s coming out of the front, so you just have to set up a basic defense and react. You can’t load up on one or the other.”

INJURY UPDATE: Sophomore outside hitter Dylan Bowermaster is still unable to practice after injuring his quadriceps tendon two weeks ago in Hawai’i.

Either Sean O’Malley or Jeff Woodley will play in his absence, and freshman Jeremy Casebeer will suit up as a spot on the lineup opened up.

“(Bowermaster) is not looking like how he was before he injured himself,” Scates said.