Set for perfection

Wednesday, April 22, 1998

Set for perfection

Brandon Taliaferro’s solid presence serves to anchor the
team

By Grace Wen

Daily Bruin Staff

At the end of practice last Thursday, Brandon Taliaferro slipped
out of his wet UCLA volleyball T-shirt into a dry T-shirt.

The new shirt featured a cartoon character with the word
"beefcake" written in capital letters beneath it.

Standing at 6-feet, 5-inches and weighing 215 pounds, Taliaferro
doesn’t have the prototype setter’s body. Setters have tended to be
a little taller and a little lighter than Taliaferro.

"I’d say a player like Mike Sealy, who played for us in ’93 –
lean with long arms – would be more of the prototype setter," UCLA
head coach Al Scates said. "Brandon is big, and he’s learned to
block. He puts up a real big block at the net. He’s a big body, big
shoulders; he takes up a lot of space at the net, and I like
that."

Regardless of his body size, the sophomore from San Clemente has
run the offense for the Bruins for the past two years. With
Taliaferro at the helm, UCLA has amassed a two-year record of 49-8
and competed for an NCAA championship.

UCLA began 1998 with a 16-0 record before dropping a match to
BYU. The Bruins are in contention again for an NCAA title as the
final two weeks of the season have begun.

As a freshman, Taliaferro won a starting spot early in the
season. It wasn’t easy, but Taliaferro expected to compete when he
came to UCLA.

Despite the fact that other schools had offered him full
scholarships and the chance to start immediately, Taliaferro chose
UCLA for the opportunity to compete and win national championships.
It was never guaranteed that he would start. It was his intense
desire to win that attracted UCLA to him in the first place.

"I’ve always played up a division or age, and that’s what I
wanted when I came here," the sophomore said. "I wanted to
compete.

"Volleyball is a great sport and everything, and I love playing
it, but more than anything I just love competing. I love the
adrenaline rush. I love having people boo me and yell at me, get in
my face. I didn’t want to go to another school where they handed me
a job because I knew if I did that I wouldn’t get much better."

He played in all 29 matches in 1997 and posted 1,707 assists,
222 digs and 16 aces en route to being named a second team AVCA
All-American and Volleyball magazine’s Freshman of the Year.
Throughout his rookie season, Taliaferro never thought of himself
as a freshman and didn’t play like one either.

This year, the setter has tallied 1,533 assists with an average
of 17.03 per game. His 46 aces rank second on the team only to
fellow sophomore Adam Naeve.

"(Taliaferro’s) playing solid all-around," UCLA captain, Tom
Stillwell said. "He’s got the heater with the jumper. He’s setting
great. He’s making great choices. He’s got a year under his belt.
He knows what it takes to win and he’s showing it."

In the Bruins’ crucial match vs. Pepperdine, Taliaferro played
the match of his career. He served five aces, hit .769 with 11
kills, blocked six balls and set UCLA to a .330 hitting percentage.
Needless to say, the setter was instrumental in the win. At the
conclusion of conference play, Taliaferro was named to the MPSF
first team.

However, Taliaferro isn’t resting on his laurels.

"As far as I’m concerned, I should do a lot more," he said.
"There’s always more that I could do. There’s always things that I
could get better at."

In addition to the numbers he puts up, as the setter, Taliaferro
serves as the emotional leader on the court. The Bruins play better
when a fired up Taliaferro leads the charge.

He modestly denies this key role, saying that the team itself is
stable and that the team feeds off of each other. But Scates has a
slightly different take.

"He has this intense desire to win," Scates said. "If we get
behind he just turns the intensity even more. I think it wears off
on the other players and we get very focused with him in there.

"He’s a vocal leader when things aren’t going good or when
there’s a bad play. In fact, he’s struggled hard to contain himself
from time to time and call the next play because he wants to play
the perfect game. He gets a little distraught when it doesn’t
happen."

Taliaferro’s desire to win suits the UCLA program well. Like
past Bruin setters, Taliaferro has adopted the winning attitude. He
describes the mentality as one in which everything is done for the
sake of winning. Second place is never a thought that players
entertain.

The winning attitude goes along with his own desire for
excellence.

"I’m always looking for perfection, and when I don’t get it, it
just eats at me," Taliaferro said intensely. "But, I think that’s
one place I’ve really grown. Since I’ve been at UCLA I’ve learned
to ‘let it go,’ and that’s something that Scates has really
instilled in me."

Though he has learned to let some plays go, last year’s loss in
the championship match serves as a thorn in his side. Given his
experience from last year, Taliaferro feels ready for this year’s
potential championship run.

"This year, once I get in there again, nothing’s going to be
held back," Taliaferro said. "I’m just going to go as hard as I can
and just go for it. I think last year, I held back a little bit. I
tried to be a little conservative, and I think that might have been
the difference."

The blemish in his quest for perfection has served as his No. 1
motivation for winning this year. But, in general, Taliaferro just
wants to win championships.

In fact, when asked how he compares to past UCLA setters, Stein
Metzger and Mike Sealy, two setters who have led UCLA to three
national championships in the past five years, Taliaferro says that
he doesn’t compare himself to them.

"I’ve always compared past people to how much they’ve won like
how many rings they have," Taliaferro said. "In my eyes, Ricci
Luyties is the best setter that ever came out of UCLA ’cause he won
four national championships."

This perfectionist, who is 0-1 in championships, has some
catching up to do. At least in his mind.