Top-ranked team loses battle, wins war

Monday, March 2, 1998

Top-ranked team loses battle, wins war

VOLLEYBALL Flyers steal a game, but can’t stop UCLA from taking
match

By Grace Wen

Daily Bruin Staff

It finally happened.

Someone finally took a game off the UCLA men’s volleyball
team.

The Bruins, who have grown accustomed to sweeping opponents,
lost a game for only the third time this season. It didn’t matter
for the Bruins, however, who prevailed 15-8, 15-4, 14-16, 15-4 over
Lewis University in just a shade over two hours.

Once again it was a balanced attack that gave the undefeated
Bruins (15-0, 10-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) another win.
Four players hit in double figures with middle blocker Adam Naeve
hammering a team-high 25 kills to go along with a team-high 12 digs
and four blocks.

UCLA’s senior captain Tom Stillwell spiked 17 kills and served 4
aces while opposite Evan Thatcher also had 17 kills. Outside hitter
Fred Robins added 10 kills to contribute to the Bruin effort.

Despite an outstanding 35-kill performance from Flyer junior
Victor Rivera, UCLA outhit Lewis .435 to .320.

Although the Bruins had the same number of kills as the Flyers,
hitting errors made the difference as UCLA had only 17 compared to
31 for Lewis.

Serving was also key to the match, since top-ranked UCLA posted
nine aces compared to only one ace for the Flyers.

UCLA continues to outserve opponents with its mix of blistering
jump serves and tough float serves.

Stillwell did the most damage with his float serve but Naeve and
freshman Mark Williams both stunned the Flyers for two aces each
while Ben Moselle had one.

On the defensive end, the Bruins outblocked the Flyers 8-7 but
were outdug 48-42.

The match definitely wasn’t as stressful as last year’s, in
which it came right down to the wire in the fifth game before UCLA
won 24-22. Although it wasn’t the quick sweep that UCLA head coach
Al Scates had hoped for, the Bruins did walk away with another
win.

UCLA will play another non-conference match on Tuesday night
against Loyola University of Chicago. The Ramblers are off to their
best start with a 13-2 overall record and a No. 9 ranking in both
the AVCA and Volleyball Magazine polls.