Volleyball upset by Cardinals, 3-0
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 5, 1995 9:00 p.m.
Volleyball upset by Cardinals, 3-0
No. 15 Ball State hands top-ranked UCLA its first loss of the
season
By Eric Branch
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
A funny thing happened on the way to a rematch.
Perhaps looking ahead to a possible showdown with Penn State in
the championship match of the four-team Volleyball Hall of Fame
Classic in Springfield, Mass., the No. 1 UCLA men’s volleyball team
forgot a few details  namely the Ball State Cardinals.
In a stunning upset the15th-ranked Cardinals (10-5) handed the
Bruins their first loss of the season Friday night  and they
did so in convincing fashion  dispatching of UCLA 15-5,
15-12, 15-11 in just one hour and 30 minutes.
Although Penn State did everything they could to set up a
rematch of last years NCAA final by beating Springfield in their
opener, the Bruins could do nothing right. In fact, outside of
showing up at Blake Arena, the Bruins (13-1) did little else during
the rest of the evening.
"We couldn’t pass, we couldn’t hit, we couldn’t block," UCLA
head coach Al Scates said. "It was a nightmare. It was easily the
worst match of the season  we must have been focused on Penn
State again."
UCLA, which had never lost to Ball State (11-0 career), entered
the match having dropped just three games all season. However, they
succeeded in matching that total in one night after being
completely outhit (.339 to .250) and outblocked (14 to five) by the
Cardinals. Outside hitter Todd Reimer led the Ball State attack
with a match-high 19 kills while middle blocker Greg Romano
contributed 16 kills, 10 digs, four aces and three block solos.
"They were fired up and they had a great game plan," Scates
said. "I mean it was beautiful  they did everything right.
They’ll never play that way again."
Scates can only hope his own team is incapable of an encore
performance. All-American Player of the Year Jeff Nygaard posted as
many errors as kills (six) while swing hitter Erik Sullivan, one of
the top passers in the nation, tallied three reception errors.
"Everyone has an off night," Scates said. "It’s just that
everyone shouldn’t have it on the same night. It usually takes Erik
eight matches to have that many (reception errors)."
While the debacle left a bitter pill in Scates’ mouth, the win
may have been the best thing to happen in Muncie, Ind., since Ball
State alum David Letterman hit the airwaves.
"It was the greatest win of (Ball State head) coach Shondell’s
career and he’s been coaching for 31 years," Scates said. "I read
that in the paper today. He may retire now. I don’t know  he
might not even finish the season."
* * *
Releasing enough pent-up anger to sink a small ship  the
Bruins spent Saturday night kicking around host school Springfield
College (7-3) 15-7, 15-6, 15-4 in the consolation match.
The one hour and 20 minute dismantling was highlighted by a
season-high .540 team hitting percentage and match-highs of 15
kills and seven aces by Nygaard. Swing hitter Kevin Wong added
eight digs and quick hitter John Speraw finished the tournament
with 17 kills, 0 errors and a .680 hitting percentage.
"They’re just a tiny school back in the East and the good teams
should hammer them  which we did," said Scates who notched
career win No. 850.
