Volleyball crowned NCAA champ

Monday, May 6, 1996

Coach Scates leads team to 16th title after nail-biter against
Hawaii RainbowsBy Ruben Gutierrez

and Mark Shapiro

Daily Bruin Staff

The University of Hawaii came into Saturday’s NCAA Championship
game with delusions of grandeur given UCLA’s 15 previous NCAA
crowns and 23-match NCAA win streak at Pauley Pavilion.

Delusions or not, the Rainbows were on their way to dethroning
the defending national champions as they took a two games to one
lead, and then, a 9-7 lead in the fourth game. With their
championship hopes in the balance, seniors Brian Wells and Stein
Metzger turned the team around with their inspired play.

"We knew we were going to win if it went to game five," Metzger
said. "We knew if it went three or four chances were we were going
to lose. We didn’t have any doubt, we knew if we could take them to
five we would win."

The match got off to a favorable start as the Bruins took game
one, 15-13. It was here that the troubles began. Junior opposite
Paul Nihipali, who struggled to get on track in the first game,
became a liability for UCLA as he posted more errors than kills by
the end of game two.

As Nihipali slipped, Hawaii superstar Yuval Katz began to take
over on his way to a match-high 47 kills in a championship record
94 attempts. With their biggest hitter on the bench and their block
becoming increasingly ineffectual against the Rainbow attack, the
Bruins dropped the next two games 15-13 and 15-9, respectively.

"The whole time I was sitting there on the bench thinking that
I’m contributing to us falling one step short," Nihipali said. "I
couldn’t get anything right, I was thinking too much. I went back
out there and starting playing my game."

With the Rainbows up 8-7 in the fourth game, quick hitter James
Turner was served with a red card that gave the Rainbows a point
penalty. Now down 9-7, the Bruins needed some heroics to pull them
together.

Metzger, who was named to the All-Tournament team, switched
roles with swing hitter Brian Wells, taking a Wells set and
pounding an angled spike to halve the deficit. Next came reserve
Trong Nguyen, who came up with a huge ace to tie the game at nine.
With the Bruins up 16-15, quick hitter Tom Stillwell, who had 11
blocks to go with 22 kills, roofed a Hawaii attack to close out the
game and tie the match at two games apiece.

Enter Nihipali.

In the rally-scoring fifth game, Nihipali resurrected his game
and had six kills, which resulted in six points, as the Bruins
jumped out to an early lead against the Rainbows’ serving
lineup.

"I’m just glad that I can feel like I contributed to this win,"
Nihipali said. "By the end of game four I was confident and playing
my game. I wanted the ball in game five."

At match point, Turner compensated for his earlier gaffe by
tipping a ball over the Rainbow block to give the Bruins their
first back-to-back championship since 1984 and their 16th overall
title.

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

Matt Taylor (left), James Turner (center) and Brian Wells
(background) celebrate UCLA’s five-game victory over Hawaii in the
NCAA championship match.