Former Viking star Madeleine Gates (16) sets up
the block in the middle in game four of
USD's 3-1 upset of 7th-ranked UCLA.
(Photo by Ed Piper)
By Ed Piper, Jr.
Madeleine Gates, 2016 graduate of La Jolla High, played a trio or so of points in the third game and finished the fourth game at middle hitter-blocker for UCLA as the Bruins, ranked number seven in the nation, dropped a 3-1 volleyball match to host USD Sat., Sept. 10. The Toreros are ranked 15th in the NCAA.
A large home crowd in Jenny Craig Pavilion focused on an aroused USD team's upset win over the visiting Bruins, while Gates, as a soon-to-be freshman, stood on the sidelines with teammates for most of the tournament encounter.
When she was called in for spot duty to spell 6'5" starter Jennie Frager, the 6'3" former Viking had been idle since warm-ups for an hour and a half. But Madeleine made no errors, and got an even longer stint in the following game as her team was losing three straight--through no fault of Gates--after clinching the opening game.
In the fourth game, she served multiple times, once hitting the net with the ball dropping over on the USD side. She looked active, aware, and not at all awed by her surroundings or her circumstances as a member of the highly-ranked UCLA program under Coach Michael Sealy without having even attended a class on campus yet until the fall semester begins next Mon., Sept. 19.
Madeleine Gates, here in
warm-ups, is a fairly
complete player.
Many have been the lifestyle changes Gates has already made from June, relocating to Westwood from San Diego and entering a new volleyball program--which she committed to two years ago, in the fall of her junior year at La Jolla High--in the new role of part-time substitute, after having starred for the Vikings as a dominant All-CIF presence in the middle.
None of the sets were to Madeleine in her few points of playing time against one of her hometown's universities, she serving as more the foil while sets went to her established teammates, including Claire Felix, 6'6" and solid in contrast to Frager's thin physique.
In fact, Frager, a senior who played at Torrey Pines High, is all that apparently stands between Gates and a starting position. Upon the former Falcon's graduation next year, the La Jolla product would seem to be the heir apparent to the middle hitter-blocker position in Sealy's program. Felix, like Frager, is a senior, so assuming they both graduate from the program next year, there will be quite a changing of the guard for Gates and other Bruin players.
UCLA has a heralded women's volleyball history, and Sealy likewise has a distinguished career, both as a player for the Bruins and as their coach since 2010.
The Bruins, besides currently being ranked seventh in the latest AVCA coaches poll, own four NCAA titles and six national titles overall, including the AIAW, the precursor in women's college sports to the NCAA. The four NCAA championships place UCLA second with Nebraska behind only Penn State with seven titles.
UCLA has also been to 11 Final Fours.
Meanwhile, Sealy was an All-American for the Bruins in 1991, 1992, and 1993, the last when he was co-MVP as UCLA copped its third NCAA title and second in a row.
In his second year as coach of his alma mater in 2011, he led UCLA to its first national title since he was a player. He was named AVCA Coach of the Year. So the coach has been a part of three of his school's four NCAA championships.
Sealy assisted under Coach Dave Shoji at the University of Hawaii. Shoji is a member of the Hall of Fame.
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