Matadors all bull; UCLA wins easily

Thursday, February 4, 1999

Matadors all bull; UCLA wins easily

RECAP: Opposing coach has seen Bruins play better; back-up
player starts, shines in game with 15 kills

By Pauline Vu

Daily Bruin Contributor

Although UCLA opposite hitter Ed Ratledge had the team’s lowest
hitting percentage and only played in one match all season before
Wednesday’s game against Cal State Northridge, he quickly showed
why he deserved to start.

Ratledge led UCLA (5-2 overall, 3-1 MPSF) with 15 kills in their
victory over the Matadors (1-3, 1-2). The Bruins made quick work of
CSU Northridge, winning in straight sets of 15-3, 15-9 and
15-4.

CSU Northridge coach Jeff Campbell didn’t try to gloss over his
team’s loss.

"We’re very young, very inexperienced and not a very good team.
We don’t know how to affect UCLA," he said of his three freshmen,
one sophomore and two juniors who started.

But Campbell spoke just as bluntly about UCLA’s game.

"UCLA didn’t play very well. They played well enough to beat us,
but I’ve seen them do better."

Despite this observation, UCLA still easily beat the Matadors in
game one. Ratledge looked shaky at first, giving the Matadors their
first two points with an out-of-bounds hit and a spike into the
net, but the Matador’s Adam Black’s spike to tie the game at 3-3
was the closest the Matadors came to even challenging UCLA. The
Bruins then went on a 12-0 run to win the game, including a 4-0 run
at one time with no sideouts.

The Bruins also served excellently in game one, as five of the
Bruins’ points came from aces alone.

Game two opened with CSU Northridge supposedly taking a sideout
on setter John Baxter’s hit, but they quickly lost the advantage
and UCLA had it’s first point. This was due to the Matador’s back
row attackers being out of position.

Then the Matadors tied the game when the ball set to Adam Naeve
was completely missed on the attempted putaway, and earned their
second point with Black’s spike.

The teams then traded sideouts and CSU Northridge capitalized on
Bruin mistakes. They took point three when setter Brandon
Taliaferro hit the ball wide and point four when quick hitter Danny
Farmer missed the set, allowing Matadors star opposite Eckhard
Walter to pound the ball back at the Bruins for the point later in
the volley.

That was to be the Matadors’ only lead. The Bruins quickly tied
the score on a 3-0 run and, several sideouts later, built their
lead to 7-4.

Yet, the Matadors would not fold that easily and retook the lead
at 8-7 on Walter’s soft tip.

The Bruins rallied back, going on a 6-0 run to make the score
13-8, including three points in a row by hits from Mark Williams.
The Matadors managed one last point before the Bruins scored the
two points needed for the game, with Ratledge ending it on an ace.
He finished with a team-high seven kills during that game.

Game three looked much like game one, in that from the
beginning, the Matadors didn’t have a chance. The Bruins built
their lead to 5-1. The Matadors then managed to score their only
four points on a 4-0 run, including an ace by Junior Mosones, but
then limply allowed the Bruins to finish the game 15-4.

For UCLA head coach Al Scates, who never expected CSU Northridge
to be a challenge, the game was a good time to allow Ratledge to
get off the bench and prove himself in place of starter Evan
Thatcher.

"It’s good to see some new players. It’s nice to know
(Ratledge’s) ready to go," Skates said.

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