Men’s Volleyball Notebook

Those tricky men of Westwood

Of the top four teams in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation,
UCLA’s was the last one expected to earn the MPSF’s
automatic berth to the Final Four in Indiana, behind Long Beach
State, USC and Pepperdine.

Did anyone think the Bruins would take the automatic berth?

“Apparently not,” UCLA head coach Al Scates said.
“Not too many people have voted us No. 1 in the polls.

“But, as John Wooden told me, the unexpected victories are
the sweetest. When people expect you to win, it’s just a lot
of stress.”

Wild, wild Midwest

By UCLA men’s volleyball standards, the Bruins have a
sorry Midwestern postseason record.

Out of 21 attempts, UCLA head coach Al Scates has only lost four
national championships, but all four of them took place in the
Midwest: at Ball State (Indiana), Ohio State (twice) and
Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, which is hosting this year’s Final
Four. Conversely, the Bruins have also won three of their national
titles in the Midwest, two of them at Ball State and one at Ohio
State. They are looking for their first championship win at
IPFW.

MPSF All-Conference

UCLA had four players honored by the MPSF: senior setter Brandon
Taliaferro and senior libero Matt Davis both made the
league’s first-team, and junior outside hitter Mark Williams
and freshman quick hitter Scott Morrow made the MPSF third
team.

Yet another Final Four

Although the Bruins were upset in the first round of MPSF
playoffs last year, the years before that, from 1993-1998, they
made it all the way to the NCAA Championship match. Of those six
years UCLA took home the title four times and took runner-up
twice.

Except for transfer Ed Ratledge, this year’s seniors all
have one national championship under their belt from when UCLA won
the title in 1998 in Hawaii.

“All the seniors have a ring already,” coach Scates
said, “but it’d be nice to give them two.”

In the 30-year history of NCAA men’s volleyball, UCLA has
won 17 championships under Scates (56.7 winning percentage). The
Bruins’ overall Final Four record is 38-4.

Bruins got bench

Much has been made of UCLA’s deep bench, and as the recent
playoff matches showed, the bench has definitely been worth talking
about.

Against Loyola Marymount in the MPSF semi-finals, reserves Ed
Ratledge, a senior opposite, and Cameron Mount, a redshirt freshman
outside hitter, came off the bench to spark a slow Bruin team with
11 and seven kills, respectively. More important, however, was the
energy they brought to the Bruins when the team struggled in the
fourth and final game. Against Pepperdine in Saturday’s
finals Ratledge again came off the bench and led the team in kills
with 27. Another backup player who contributed on the floor was
redshirt freshman quick hitter Greg Coon.

“Greg Coon served tough and got the Pepperdine passers out
of rhythm,” Scates said. “That softened them up for the
rest of the match.”

Notes compiled by Pauline Vu, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.