Bruins celebrate paradise found

Monday, May 4, 1998

Bruins celebrate paradise found

VOLLEYBALL: UCLA recaptures NCAA title

by turning tide on Waves

By Grace Wen

Daily Bruin Staff

HONOLULU — Redemption.

It has been one long year since the UCLA men’s volleyball team
lost the 1997 championship. No UCLA squad has ever lost two
championships in a row, and neither would the 1998 team.

Before an NCAA record crowd of 9,822 the Bruins swept Pepperdine
15-11, 15-11, 15-7 to win their 17th national championship. It took
UCLA only two hours and 10 minutes to win its fourth title in six
years.

UCLA put everything together and played its best match of the
season at just the right time. The Bruins hit an astounding .454
and had five players record double digit kills. Tournament MVP Adam
Naeve hammered 23 kills at a .629 clip to lead UCLA.

In their last performances as Bruins, Tom Stillwell and Ben
Moselle notched 18 and 15 kills, respectively. Sophomore Evan
Thatcher posted 21 kills, while All-Tournament Selection Fred
Robins added 18 kills to help UCLA outhit Pepperdine, .454 to
.384.

But it wasn’t just the hitting that was on. UCLA outserved
Pepperdine nine aces to five and outdug the Waves 42-40. The only
statistical category in which Pepperdine had the advantage was
blocking (8-7), but this didn’t seem to affect the tempo of the
game as UCLA hitters consistently hit past, through or around
blocks.

"I loved the risk taking," UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "They
just ripped the jumpers. They make a couple of errors, and they
just come back and hit it hard again. If you look at our blocks, we
didn’t have many. We didn’t have many blocks at all, but they were
shanking the ball so bad.

"We were soft blocking and getting a lot of digs and had a lot
of extra hits that we capitalized on, so the serving game was
really important for us. That’s what I love about this team, that
they just ripped it."

UCLA’s serving kept the Pepperdine’s offense out of sync
throughout the night. The Waves’ passing troubles forced them to
set their outside hitters constantly, whom the Bruins effectively
contained, as evidenced by freshman Scott Wong’s paltry .111 attack
percentage and junior Peter Kodacsy’s .273 clip.

The Bruins also managed to somewhat slow Pepperdine standout
George Roumain who still led all hitters with 22 kills and hit
.400. In spite of his numbers, Roumain’s play did not seem as
effective as in the three previous encounters with UCLA. This was
due in part to the defense of Stillwell, who posted a match high 11
digs.

"He hit .400, but they were going away from him at the end,"
Scates said. "I’m sure that went down as the game progressed
because we had the diggers in the right spot. I thought Tom
Stillwell dug George time after time and they seemed to stop going
to him. Tom was our best digger tonight, which is pretty amazing
because when he came into the program, he couldn’t dig at all."

In addition to the defense, all of UCLA’s hitters turned in
strong performances to help setter Brandon Taliaferro run an
unpredictable attack.

Taliaferro, also an All-Tournament selection, posted 84 assists,
four digs and two blocks while keeping Wave blockers clueless as to
his next target.

"They block a little differently than most teams," Taliaferro
said. "The middles kind of stay neutral so that if I send the
middles on a quick, the outsides are going to be open more one on
one. Freddie and Moselle got hot teeing off on the outside, so I
just kept going the same way when they were committing in the
middle."

In the first game, the Bruins relied on the hitting of Moselle
and Robins to match Pepperdine sideout for sideout. The Waves drew
first blood, but the lead changed frequently and swiftly, with
neither team holding more than a two point advantage. Trailing 3-5,
Taliaferro blasted two aces to even the score.

The Bruins took a 9-8 lead with another ace, this time by
Robins. A block by Thatcher, a hitting error by Roumain and a kill
by Thatcher gave UCLA its largest lead at 12-8. Pepperdine scored
three more points but also made three hitting errors to gave UCLA
the easy points to finish the game.

After a 2-2 tie, the Bruins fired off eight straight points to
take a 10-2 lead in the second game. The wind in Pepperdine’s sails
seemed to deflate, as UCLA consistently dug Pepperdine hitters and
scored on transition plays. The Waves managed to make a small run
that brought them within five at 12-7.

UCLA, however, quickly closed the door on the game and the match
as it outscored Pepperdine 18-11.

"I think that we didn’t receive serve as well as we’re capable
of but the other part of that, the other side, I thought they
served pretty well," Pepperdine head coach Marv Dunphy said. "We
were really inconsistent, and I think that hurt us a little bit.
Volleyball is such a momentum game. They served pretty well, took
control of the ball.

"They played well in the past when we’ve played them. I think
Taliaferro did a nice job getting the ball to the quick (hitters),
and then he mixed it pretty well. I thought he played real
well."

In spite of the praise, it was enough for Taliaferro to have
redeemed himself with a championship ring. The pressure on his
shoulders has been lifted. He did not make history as the first
UCLA setter to lose back to back championships.

"I feel a lot taller," Taliaferro said. "I can stand up
straight. I’m loving this right now, but I’ll probably enjoy the
next one (more) if we’re lucky enough to get another one. This one
is just a relief. I put so much pressure on myself. This year, I
had to do it. I had to do it. I had to prove to myself that I could
come back from last year’s disappointment."

Come back he did, as did all of the UCLA men’s volleyball team.
The 1998 squad earned its unprecedented 17th title. The Bruins are
back.