With Robins grounded, Taylor again swings into starting line-up

Thursday, April 18, 1996

Irvine win focuses spikers heading into conference playoffsBy
Ruben Gutierrez

Daily Bruin Staff

Freshman Fred Robins, one of the regular starters at swing
hitter for No. 3 UCLA, will not suit up for Saturday’s first-round
MPSF playoff match against No. 9 Pacific. Robins was injured last
Friday in a 15-10, 15-10, 15-13 loss to No. 2 Long Beach State.

Starting in his stead once again will be senior Matt Taylor, who
recorded 11 kills and 10 digs in a three-game drubbing of UC Irvine
Tuesday night.

* * *

Senior Brian Wells customarily will man the other swing
position. Wells missed last week’s match against Loyola Marymount
after sitting out two practices because of injuries. He struggled
against the 49ers last week as well, but is back up to speed after
tallying 14 kills against UCI.

"He wasn’t sharp last week because I had to rest him," UCLA head
coach Al Scates said. "He had some physical problems that had
accumulated over a long period of time and he needed a few days
off. He lost some of his rhythm and his timing, but he’s back now.
He’ll be ready for the big match. It’s a mix of rest and
repetitions."

* * *

After a late-season slump, junior opposite hitter Paul Nihipali,
a hammer for the Bruins all season, came back to bomb on the
Anteaters with a team-high 18 kills. According to Nihipali, the
match was just what the Bruins needed before diving into the
post-season.

"I think it’s just important that we put it back together in our
heads that we can win," Nihipali said. "Losing in three to Long
Beach was tough and I know now that we’re focused going into the
playoffs."

With the emergence of sophomore Ben Moselle, UCLA possesses all
the relief it will need for any of its three outside hitters.
Moselle was inserted at the opposite hitter spot against LBSU and
came up with an impressive 11 kills in just over one game of court
time. Moselle will be the top sub at the opposite position and both
swing spots Saturday night.

* * *

Expect the inside play of quick hitters Tom Stillwell and James
Turner to open things up for the outside hitters. In Stillwell and
Turner, UCLA owns two young players whose 6-foot-8-inch frames make
rival hitters cower, and who also have the ability to splinter the
boards with powerful quick-set put aways.

"They should make our outside hitters better, let them hit for a
higher average," Scates said. "They should be able to get a lot of
one-on-one situations for them. The timing is good in the middle,
the best it has been all season. It just makes everybody better,
especially the three outside hitters.

"I mean, if we get a good pass, then there are two ways to stop
the middle. One, you commit on them and two, you try to read them
with two blockers. Either of those ways opens up the outside for
us," he said.

* * *

Play-off pairings for the first round Saturday are as follows:
UCLA, the No. 1 seed in the Mountain Division hosts at-large
Pacific, and the Pacific Division No. 2 seed, Long Beach State,
will host Cal State Northridge, seeded third in the Mountain
Division top bracket.

In the bottom bracket, the Pacific No. 1 seed, Hawaii, will host
at large Pepperdine. UC Santa Barbara, the second seed in the
Mountain will host Stanford, the No. 3 seed in the Mountain to
round out the bottom bracket pairings.