Team silences hecklers with victory

  TYSON EVANS Middle blocker Scott Morrow,
whose two blocks gave UCLA the win, gets ready to spike a Rich
Nelson set against UCSB. UCLA d. UCSB 30-26, 30-24, 25-29,
35-33

By Hannah Gordon
Daily Bruin Reporter

The Brat Pack finally shut up.

With two consecutive blocks, Scott Morrow, with the help of Rich
Nelson, silenced the hecklers bedecked in headbands, side pony
tails and off-the-shoulder ripped tops circa 1985. The blocks,
Morrow’s ninth and tenth of the match, won game four 35-33 to
take the match 3-1 from UC Santa Barbara.

“I love it when people heckle. It’s fun to quiet the
crowd,” said Nelson, who had six blocks himself.

After breezing through the first two games 30-26, 30-24, the
Bruins hardly foresaw a nailbiter fourth game. Even the heckling
ladies in the eighth row had turned from calls of
“Ol锝 to a frustrated “Suck my c—“
to dead silence.

But in game three, UCSB came back.

“I think we were overconfident,” Morrow said.
“We played a little lazy in the third game.”

As the Bruins got down 10-14, the Brat Pack got almost as loud
as their hot pink-lime green polka dot tights.

The Bruins stepped up with the help of Cameron Mount, who was
the go-to man all night. But after tying it up 22-22, the Gauchos
took the momentum back to win the game 29-25 on a close line
call.

“We played a poor match up until then,” UCSB head
coach Ken Preston said. “We were not good from the service
line.”

The Bruins went into game four on their heels but fell behind
8-13 and stayed about five points behind until they tied it up at
22-all.

The teams exchanged points, but the Bruins were just too
prepared for the Gauchos.

“We stayed with the game plan. We tried to take away their
favorite shots,” UCLA head coach Al Scates said. “We
knew they would eventually go to them. When they did we were
waiting for it.”

Side pony tails bobbing, the Gaucho girls chanted as UCSB served
for game point 29-28. But Paul Johnson stuffed it. Then the Gauchos
mishandled the ball to give the Bruins match point. Unable to
capitalize, the two teams exchanged points to tie at 33-33 thanks
to nice play by Matt Komer and Johnson before Morrow’s
game-winning blocks.

“We were focusing on their tendencies all night, they just
happened to be the last two points,” Morrow said.

UCLA’s defense was also essential, holding the Gauchos to
.260 hitting.

“Santa Barbara is a good team,” Scates said.
“They hit .375 for the season and we held them .100
under.”

The offense was important as well.

“They had the right server at the right time,”
Preston said.

All night junior Cameron Mount led the Bruins, finishing with 24
kills for a .476 clip. David Russell came a distant second with 13
kills.

“Mount carried us tonight,” Scates said.

“I just changed him to the opposite spot yesterday in
(injured freshman Jonathan) Acosta’s spot,” he added,
pleased with the move.