Past and present players match up

  MIKE CHIEN Freshman Jimmy Sepulveda sets
the ball while sophomore Matt Shubin looks on.

By Daniel Miller
Daily Bruin Contributor

Only one thing was for sure at the men’s volleyball
team’s match Saturday at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins would win.

However, it took five games to determine which Bruins would win
““ UCLA or the UCLA alumni team ““ with the current team
coming out on top 20-18 in game five to seal the victory.

“I am pleased with the way we played,” head coach Al
Scates said. “We only had three days practice since coming
back from break, and we were facing five starters from the 1995
NCAA championship team.”

Alumni Jason Harper, Paul Nihipali, Jeff Nygaard, John Speraw,
Tom Stillwell, Erik Sullivan, Kevin Wong and Court Young were all
members of that team. Player-coach and UCLA assistant coach Speraw
was disappointed with their play.

“I was a little disappointed and surprised by the play of
the guys from the 1995 team, but the younger guys did a great
job,” Speraw said.

The Bruins won the first two games 30-21 and 30-19, before
dropping the next two 30-19 and 30-24. UCLA overcame a 6-0 alumni
run in the fifth game to win 20-18. A pivotal fifth-game kill by
freshman outside hitter Jonathan Acosta gave the Bruins a 16-15
lead and forced an alumni timeout. Another Acosta kill tied the
score at 18-18, setting up the Bruins’ fifth game point.

“It wasn’t an easy match because they are very
experienced players,” Acosta said. “The advantage we
had was that we have been practicing together. It was not
intimidating to play against those guys, but knowing who they were
motivated us to play hard.”

Acosta had a match-leading 16 kills and three block assists.
Senior outside hitter Matt Komer had nine kills, two block assists
and two service aces while posting a hitting percentage of .438.
Junior outside hitter Cameron Mount had a team-leading six block
assists and seven kills.

“I was happy with the first team,” Scates said.
“While some old habits returned, the starters did play
well.”

Scates substituted many younger players into the third, fourth
and fifth games, giving him the opportunity to see some athletes
perform for the first time. He noted the play of freshman outside
hitter Brennan Prahler, who had six kills and two block assists,
saying “he has a lot of potential “”mdash; he’s playing
well enough to travel.”

The Bruins continued to receive vocal leadership from sophomore
middle blocker Chris Peña, who Scates said was probably the
team’s best player in the fall.

“I think that we played mediocre volleyball,”
Peña said. “We need to work on blocking and
defense.”

The alumni team, which lost in four games last year and won in
2000, was led by Seth Burnham’s 10 kills. Matt Davis had
eight kills and Nihipili posted six.

Speraw had the unique perspective of coaching and playing for
the alumni team as a UCLA assistant coach.

“I could easily tell that UCLA is better at this point
than last year,” Speraw said. “The team is solid
““ there are guys that will really contribute throughout the
season.”

Speraw’s praise is unique because it is one of the few
times an opposing coach really knows what he is talking about.