Volleyball tames Lions
By Daily Bruin Staff
April 10, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, April 11, 1996
Net performance highlights Bruin’s Wednesday sweepBy Ruben
Gutierrez
Daily Bruin Staff
Lions may be the figurative kings of the jungle but in the urban
concrete of Los Angeles volleyball, they are near the bottom of the
pecking order.
On Wednesday night, No. 2 UCLA put on a clinic for a hapless
Loyola Marymount team in a three-game whipping, 15-3, 15-9, 15-0.
The Bruins were particularly impressive at the net, outblocking LMU
21.5 to three in what head coach Al Scates considered the squad’s
best blocking performance of the year.
"I thought our block looked really good," Scates said. "It’s
getting to the point now where we don’t have any weaknesses the
other team can go after. Everybody is blocking well now, so it’s
finally starting to come together."
The Bruins came out roaring from the opening whistle, going up
5-1 before LMU was even aware the match had begun. It was a
no-contest from the get-go, and the Bruins clearly marked their
territory in the first game with several players taking turns doing
their best Jelani McCoy impersonations in the rout.
The scrappy Lions came back tough in the second game, clawing
their way to a 5-5 deadlock before the Bruins went on a 9-2 tear.
So confident were the Bruin blockers during that run that freshman
quick hitter James Turner invited the Loyola hitters to take him on
repeatedly and answered with roofs each time before a flustered LMU
attacker sent one long for another UCLA point.
So confident was Scates with his team’s momentum that he decided
to rest everybody’s All-American, setter Stein Metzger, in favor of
sophomore backup Eric Vallely late in the game. Vallely immediately
fired an ace serve, then dished a picture-perfect quick set to Tom
Stillwell for another Bruin score to bring up game point. A
subsequent LMU hitting error sealed the UCLA victory and a 2-0
advantage in the match.
"The only guy I hadn’t started with the first team was Eric
Vallely," Scates said. "I got to do that tonight and he played
extremely well."
Vallely’s crisp sets and sagacious judgement were instrumental
in the third-game shutout. With Stillwell serving nine straight
points, UCLA jumped out to an insurmountable 13-0 lead in the blink
of an eye.
"Val was making great decisions," swing hitter Fred Robins said.
"He got a lot of people one on one. That tells you we have great
depth on our bench in any position. He played a great game."
Robins wasn’t shabby himself, putting away eight kills to go
along with a solo block and five block assists.
Stillwell recorded a team high nine kills on an .818 attack
percentage and added an ace, three digs and six block assists as
UCLA outhit the Lions .520 to .010.
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Setter Fred Robins (shown here against Cal State Northridge)
orchestrated UCLA’s three-game shutout at Loyola Marymount.
The Bruins were particularly impressive at the net, outblocking
LMU 21.5 to three in what head coach Al Scates considered the
squad’s best blocking performance of the year.
