Waves crash again, securing Bruin hold on Kilgour Cup

Waves crash again, securing Bruin hold on Kilgour Cup

Bruins easily serve up Pepperdine in tourney named for
alumnus

By Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Contributor

Pepperdine just can’t seem to beat the Bruins in anything this
year.

The UCLA men’s volleyball team gave the Waves a lesson on who’s
best on the West Coast this time, rolling in the 19th installment
of the Kilgour Cup, 15-5, 15-13, 15-9.

This was more than just a run-of-the-mill victory for the Bruins
(7-2) as they defended their hold on the trophy, named for
volleyball alumnus Kurt Kilgour. Before being crippled in a freak
accident on the court, Kilgour was an All-American and a member of
the U.S. National Team for five years. The Bruins have owned the
tournament named after one of their greats winning 17 Kilgour
Cups.

"It’s an important event and I give a lot of thought to who I’m
going to ask to participate in it," UCLA head coach Al Scates said.
"Every couple of years I tell the guys the story of Kurt. I think
it’s important to them, too."

Game one was practically handed to UCLA as the Waves mishandled
sets, blew spikes and shanked serves. The Bruins did have a hand in
the 15-5 score as they tallied a .526 attack percentage. With UCLA
ahead 4-3, the Bruins had had enough and ripped off 11 of the next
12 points to open up the game.

The second frame was a bit tighter for the Bruins as Pepperdine
jumped out to an 11-5 lead behind the power game of Kevin Barnett,
who paced the Waves with 25 kills. UCLA rallied behind the jump
serving of setter Stein Metzger and came back to take the game by a
15-13 count.

The final dance wasn’t much of a bout as the Bruins took hold of
a 9-5 lead en route to a three-game sweep. Paul Nihipali, who led
the Bruins with 20 kills, and Brian Wells pushed UCLA out to their
early lead in game three.

"I think we were pretty methodical," Scates said. "When we got
behind, we raised our level of play. I think we just methodically
went through them. I think we looked like we expected to win. Brian
Wells hit very explosively and Paul Nihipali was ready to hit, he
was screaming for the ball."

The match also marked the return of James Turner, who sat out
three weeks with an injured ankle. In his first game back, Turner
posted five kills in two games before he fell victim to some old
tendencies attributed to the layoff.

"James is not back to where he was," Scates said. "He’s fallen
back into some bad habits but he’ll be back. He’s not jumping like
I want him to but we’ll start him against Loyola."

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

Paul Nihipali led UCLA in kills in its quest for the Bruins’
17th Kilgour Cup title.

Comments to [email protected]