Bruins beat Hawai’i at Invitational

By Daniel Miller
Daily Bruin Contributor

Like the Hawaiian tropical rain storms that often appear out of
nowhere, the men’s volleyball team came from behind like a
monsoon to beat Hawai’i 31-29 in the first game of the
championship match of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational title in
Honolulu Saturday night.

After that game, the skies never cleared for Hawai’i as
the No. 1 Bruins (5-1) won 30-18 and 30-26 in the second and third
games to beat the home team in front of 7,868 fans for their fifth
consecutive championship in the tournament and sixth overall.

It was fitting that tournament Most Valuable Player Jonathan
Acosta led the Bruins to victory in that crucial game against the
Warriors. The freshman outside hitter posted two kills and a block
in the last four points of the game to rally the Bruins from a
27-29 deficit to take the game.

“We played really well throughout the tournament,”
Acosta said. “We blocked and passed really well and we played
better defense than we have been playing. As the second game
against Hawai’i progressed we could tell that they were down
and they stopped playing hard and we didn’t let them get back
into the match.”

Acosta finished with 14 kills and six digs against Hawai’i
and had 49 kills in the three tournament matches with a hitting
percentage of .418, earning him AVCA National Player of the Week
honors.

“Acosta was our best player in the first two matches, he
was our go-to guy,” UCLA head coach Al Scates said. “I
didn’t think his level of play would improve to this level
this fast ““ I thought it would be gradual.”

Senior outside hitter Matt Komer made the all-tournament team
for the second consecutive year as he had 11 kills and three digs
against the Warriors and 36 kills in the tournament. Sophomore
quick hitter Chris Peña had a team-leading 16 kills against
Hawai’i.

“Peña was very instrumental in the victory,”
Scates said. “He was the kill leader and he was running
patterns all over the court and away from the Hawai’i’s
middle blockers because he is so quick.”

Junior quick hitter Scott Morrow injured his thumb in practice
and only saw tournament action against Hawai’i. Scates said
Morrow was easily the team’s best blocker against the
Warriors as he posted five blocks.

The Bruins beat then-No. 1 Penn State Friday 3-1, led by
Acosta’s 17 kills and five digs.

“We played well against Penn State,” Scates said.
“They are a difficult team to score against ““ their
problem was that they had a harder time scoring on us. Our hitters
were hot and we hit really well and they couldn’t score real
points on us.”