M. volleyball ready to pin Matadors

M. volleyball ready to pin Matadors

By Ruben Gutierrez

Daily Bruin Staff

The UCLA men’s volleyball team will open its Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation schedule tonight as it travels to Northridge to
face the Matadors. With wins over Loyola Marymount and UC San
Diego, Cal State Northridge (3-2, 2-0) is currently undefeated in
federation play.

UCLA (3-1) will employ the same lineup it used in its last match
against Hawaii. That particular combination could spell trouble for
CSUN, which has yet to see freshman swing hitter Fred Robins in
action. Robins returned from last weekend’s Outrigger Invitational
in Hawaii averaging a team-high 4.3 kills per game.

"They haven’t seen Robins before, so I imagine they’ll get him
all the serves to start out," Scates said. "We only played him in
three out of eight matches at the Santa Barbara Tournament and
never put him on the first team, so he’ll be passing half the
court. They’re probably going to do what Hawaii did and go after
him right away. When they find out he can pass, they’ll have to do
something else."

Scates expects the Matadome to be filled to capacity, but does
not expect the Bruins to be intimidated playing in a crowded gym.
On the road, UCLA has drawn an average of 5,100 spectators per game
this season.

"They’ll be at home, and they’ll fill up that gym even though it
only seats 2 or 3,000," Scates said. "They’ll show it off and make
a lot of noise, but after playing in Hawaii in front of 10,000
people, I don’t think we’ll be intimidated over there."

Though they may not intimidate the defending NCAA champions, the
Matadors are sure to provide some competition for the Bruins. The
Matadors reached the consolation finals of the UC Santa Barbara
Collegiate Invitational Tournament two weeks ago before dropping
the match to Pepperdine.

"We saw them in the third place match against Pepperdine,
another strong squad, and they beat out 20 other teams to get to
that match," Scates said. "They have a senior from Germany. They’ve
had three German middle blockers in a row now, and he’s a very good
hitter, a very experienced player. If they get off to a good start,
they’ll be very dangerous."

According to Scates, the UCLA squad is ready to go after its
tough early-season tournament schedule, despite a bruised lineup.
Paul Nihipali, expected to play quick hitter this season, will move
back to opposite, where he earned All-American honors last
year.

Sophomore Tom Stillwell now mans one quick hitter spot, while
blocking duty is shared by freshman Dan Farmer and senior Jason
Harper at the other quick position in place of James Turner, who is
nursing an ankle injury.

"(Besides Turner) everybody else is ready to go and playing
well," Scates said. "Stein Metzger is setting great, he’s right on
top of his game right now. Stillwell continues to improve his
blocking, and we found out we have two good quick hitters at that
other spot. We played well against Hawaii and really intimidated
their hitters with a good strong block, so we’re ready to go."

Daily Bruin file photo

Paul Nihipali will move from quick hitter back to opposite
tonight against Cal State Northridge.

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