Farmer’s twin not only Bruin similarity with Loyola Marymount

Friday, January 29, 1999

Farmer’s twin not only Bruin similarity with Loyola
Marymount

PREVIEW: UCLA must improve blocking, overcome tough loss to
regain conference superiority

By Nick Taylor

Daily Bruin Contributor

After a disappointing five-game loss at home to Pepperdine, the
Bruin men’s volleyball team will try to rebound against Loyola
Marymount this Saturday in the Wooden center.

Despite the loss, the Bruins remain confident. "When we play
well, and by that I mean block well," coach Al Scates said, "we can
beat anybody."

The Bruins, however, is not playing well. The team is only 3-2
after its first five games this year, and its No. 1 ranking is sure
to drop after Wednesday’s loss.

UCLA’s defense is in a state of disbelief; they gave up 39 kills
to Player of the Year George Roumain, and allowed the Waves to hit
.299 over the five-game match.

It doesn’t get any easier for the defense against LMU; they will
match up against Danny Farmer’s fraternal twin brother Tim Farmer,
who averages 6.33 kills per game in the early season.

In facing his brother, Danny is up to the challenge. He led the
team against Pepperdine with 23 kills, 16 digs, hit .514 and was
everywhere on the court.

Danny will have to neutralize Tim in the middle if the Bruins
hope to be successful.

UCLA does have some positives heading into Saturday’s match, for
they know they hit better against Pepperdine than LMU did (.328
compared to .194), and they put on a furious comeback against the
Waves after narrowly dropping the first two games.

Adam Naeve hit .412, had 18 kills and had nine blocks against
the Waves. Eight of those blocks were assists, which fits perfectly
into Scates’ defensive philosophy. "Instead of having one-on-one
blocks," he said, "we run two to three blockers to the block."

Brandon Taliaferro complemented Naeve at the block. He had six
block-assists against the Waves to help the team total 11
team-blocks.

The Bruins will also have to slow the Lions’ Reid Priddy, Corin
Remus and Robert Schildts. Priddy averages 4.14 kills per game,
Remus 3.86 and Schildts 3.00 – so LMU has a balanced offense
similar to UCLA.

The Bruins like to spread the ball around on offense. Usually,
setter Taliaferro will handle all of the sets, but in transition,
Scates explained, "Anybody will set the ball."

Once that set goes up, everyone is an option to get the kill.
Naeve’s 3.78 kills per game lead the team, but Farmer, Evan
Thatcher, Fred Robins and Mark Williams all average over three
kills per game. If one of them is struggling, Matt Davis can come
in and perform as well. Davis had 11 kills against Pepperdine, and
he helped lead the Bruin comeback.

Conference play has begun, and the Bruins will be highly
motivated after their first conference loss of the season.

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