Bruins to play 49ers in semifinals

Thursday, April 23, 1998

Bruins to play 49ers in semifinals

By Grace Wen

Daily Bruin Staff

It’s the same for every school the UCLA men’s volleyball team
faces.

Opposing coaches always say their team must play the best match
of the year to overcome the Bruins.

Such is the task for Long Beach State tonight, when the Bruins
and the 49ers take the court in the MPSF semifinals. The match will
start at 7:30 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion, after the other semifinal
match featuring Hawaii and Pepperdine.

"It’ll probably be a lot more difficult than the previous match
(against Long Beach State," UCLA head coach Al Scates said.
"They’re passing real well. They played BYU (a team that) beat us,
and they took them out. We know they’re playing well. It should be
a good match. When you get to this level, there’s no easy teams
left."

In the previous meeting, UCLA swept LBSU in three quick games.
The Bruins were without the full services of middle blocker Adam
Naeve. Naeve, who was recovering from burns on his arms, played
sparingly in only two of the games.

However, another sophomore helped UCLA that night. Evan Thatcher
led hitters with 16 kills.

The Bruins are coming off a 3-0 sweep of Loyola Marymount in the
quarterfinals. UCLA will face its toughest week of volleyball
yet.

It’s the same old story for the Bruins, who need to win tonight
in order to advance to the finals of the MPSF championship.

Long Beach, on the other hand, owns an 11 match win streak,
including a 3-0 sweep of BYU in the quarterfinals. The 49ers
finished second in the Pacific Division, behind championship
contender Hawaii.

The 49ers have changed personnel since the last time the two
teams met. Scott Faber and Curtis Jackson have entered the lineup
and average 3.1 and 2.5 kills per game, respectively. But the
center of the 49ers squad is senior Gaby Amar.

"They’re real young," Scates said. "They’re freshmen and
sophomores with one outstanding senior, Gaby Amar. Gaby Amar’s got
a great jump serve. He blocks a couple of balls a game. Hits around
.400, and gets about six kills a game. He’s a great player."

Besides Amar, the key for Long Beach will be its scrappy
defense. According to Long Beach State head coach Ray Ratelle, the
49ers possess a solid all-around game, but are not outstanding
offensively.

"I hope we’re competitive," Ratelle said. "After last time we
weren’t very competitive, so hopefully we’ll be competitive against
them. We know we have to play our best match of the year against
him."