UCLA looks to continue streak tonight

Wednesday, February 18, 1998

UCLA looks to continue streak tonight

VOLLEYBALL: Despite injuries, No. 1 Bruins to offer little hope
to UCSB

By Grace Wen

Daily Bruin Staff

The undefeated UCLA men’s volleyball team continues its stint at
home tonight against UC Santa Barbara. The top-ranked Bruins will
take on the No. 10 Gauchos in Pauley Pavilion at 7 p.m.

UCLA (10-0 overall, 8-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will
look to capitalize on a mediocre Gaucho season. UCSB will be
playing its first match on the road; it could be a tough time for
the visiting Gauchos.

Although UCSB (3-4, 2-4) is coming off a win against Pacific,
the Gauchos have not fared well thus far into the season.

UCSB was swept by Stanford, UC Irvine and the Bruins in matches
earlier this season.

"Santa Barbara’s been playing well, but they’ve been losing,"
UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "The coaches respect them and keep
voting them up in the top 10 even though they don’t have a good
record.

"I think they’re a play-off team, but they better start moving
soon. I just don’t want them to start (tonight)."

UCLA, on the other hand, has swept eight of its 10 opponents.
The Bruins have only lost three games this year.

Returning to the lineup for the Bruins will be sophomore Adam
Naeve, who hasn’t played in the Bruins’ last three matches and
didn’t practice for 10 days.

Naeve suffered second-degree burns two weeks ago. He played
sparingly in UCLA’s win against Long Beach State and did not suit
up for the matches against the San Diego schools.

In the Bruins’ previous meeting with the Gauchos, Naeve recorded
a match-high 30 kills. It is unlikely that Naeve will have a repeat
performance since Scates expects Naeve to take some time to find
his rhythm again.

Naeve isn’t the only question mark for UCLA. Opposite Evan
Thatcher experienced back spasms on Monday and was unable to
practice. Outside hitter Ben Moselle has been practicing at the
opposite position and could start the match. With Moselle at
opposite, junior Fred Robins will likely step into the starting
lineup alongside freshman Mark Williams.

"We’re a very flexible team," Scates said. "In fact, the last
time we played against Santa Barbara we used three different
lineups, so it just depends on who’s playing well."

While the Bruins will be busy making their own lineup
adjustments, they will also need to focus on containing UCSB’s top
hitters.

Outside hitter Kevin Collins currently leads the Gauchos in
kills with 122, while averaging 5.3 kills a game. Middle blocker
Jeremy Darner is a player that Scates likens to UCLA’s Naeve.

Although Darner is a quick hitter, he is on the receiving end of
a majority of the sets. Like Naeve, the Gauchos will not hesitate
to set him out of the back row. Darner averages 4.87 kills a game
along with a .435 hitting clip.

"He hurt us a lot last time we played them up there," Scates
said. "We have to slow him down.

"You don’t have to stop both of those guys, but if we take one
of them out then you’re in good shape because they don’t go to the
other players very much. If we can key on those two guys and
effectively slow one of them, then we should be in good
shape."DERRICK KUDO

Junior Fred Robbins