Bruins team up to take eighth-straight victory

Monday, February 22, 1999

Bruins team up to take eighth-straight victory

RECAP: After slow starts by key players, UCLA overpowers UCSB
Gauchos

By Nick Taylor

Daily Bruin Contributor

It wasn’t one performance that led the No. 2 UCLA Bruins men’s
volleyball team to victory Friday night over Santa Barbara, 15-7,
14-16, 15-11, 15-3. It was the collective effort of the whole team
that earned the Bruins their eighth-straight victory as different
players carried the team when others struggled.

"It was different guys at different times," said Coach Al
Scates, "but all my players finished well."

It seemed UCLA would win the match easily, especially after it
won the first game 15-7 and streaked to a 5-0 lead in the second.
But behind a top-heavy offense led by Kevin Collins’ 24 kills,
Santa Barbara came back and struggled its way to a 16-14 second
game victory. The Gauchos kept Evan Thatcher and Danny Farmer
wrapped up defensively, and slowed Adam Naeve after his seven kills
early in the match.

What UCLA had thought would be another easy victory – the four
previous matches were three-game sweeps – turned out to be more
than the Bruins originally bargained for.

"There was a sense of urgency after the second game," Scates
explained, "but by the fourth game, (UCSB) had no chance."

Through a balanced offensive attack, UCLA chipped away at the
Santa Barbara defense until they cracked.

Fred Robins came in with the score 0-3 in the third, providing
the spark the Bruins needed. His strong digs and tight passes
cleaned up the Bruin attack. Then, as Santa Barbara concentrated on
serving to Mark Williams, UCLA’s offense changed.

"They were serving him short and killing his approach," Scates
explained. "It affected his hitting, so we told him to make a good
pass, and the others would step up."

The rest of the team picked up the slack. What seemed to be a
good defensive strategy by the Gauchos backfired, as Matt Davis,
Farmer and Thatcher rebounded from slow starts to overwhelm Santa
Barbara.

Not only was the Bruin squad beginning to hit better as the
match wore on, but their defense proved to be too much for Santa
Barbara. UCLA had many easy digs to make, as they were blocking
very well.

They held Santa Barbara to .190 hitting, and their defense made
the job on offense easier. Easy digs produced easy passes, which
led to better sets and wider shot selections, and the Bruin offense
capitalized. UCLA hit .299 overall, the key to the match.

"Any time your opponents hit 100 points less than you do, you
win,"said Scates.

In the fourth, the Bruins blew Santa Barbara off the court
behind Brandon Taliaferro’s four aces and overpowering serves. UCLA
turned what Scates described as "a good receiving team" into one
scrambling just to get the ball over. Taliaferro’s serving led the
Bruins to pull away and win at 15-3.

A major factor in UCLA’s victory was not allowing anyone but
Collins to hurt them offensively. David Kohl and Wes Badorek, the
Gauchos’ two other offensive weapons, were limited to two and zero
kills, respectively.

The Bruins also shut down standout defender Rick Rauth, limiting
him to seven kills and seven digs. The only other threat for the
Gauchos was Chris Komer, brother of UCLA outside hitter Matt Komer.
Komer had six blocks as he contained Farmer in the early going, but
as the match wore on, UCLA reduced his effectiveness.

UCLA hit the Gauchos early in the match with a heavy dose of
Naeve and Williams. Despite both teams each hitting well, and Santa
Barbara holding a 7-5 lead, the Bruins pounded away as Naeve led
the attack. Naeve had nine kills and Williams six as UCLA won the
first game going away on a 10-0 run.

"Naeve was everywhere," said Scates. "He and Williams carried us
early in the match."

Following Friday’s balanced offensive effort, the Bruins face
Irvine this Wednesday at Pauley Pavilion. The bigger matches,
though, are the two road contests in Utah against No. 1 BYU on
Friday and Saturday. "We still have to deal with Irvine," Scates
said, "but we’re thinking about BYU."

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