Well-prepared squad sweeps win from UCSB

By Daniel Miller
Daily Bruin Contributor

SANTA BARBARA “”mdash; With his school’s team down in the
fourth game, a dejected UCSB student produced a silver flask from
his coat and took a swig of whiskey.

It was that kind of night for the Gauchos.

The UCLA men’s volleyball team beat UCSB 3-1 Saturday
night at Robertson Gym as the Gauchos found their play hampered by
an inability to penetrate UCLA’s tough defense.

The top-ranked Bruins (16-3, 11-2 MPSF) took the first game
30-26, but lost a close second game 29-31. The Bruins played
solidly the next two games, wining 30-23, 30-23.

Packed with UCSB fans donning obnoxious ’70s attire, the
crowd was much more daunting than the 567 attendance count
suggests.

“I thought we played well,” sophomore middle blocker
Chris Peña said.

“They had some tough hecklers, which makes this one of the
toughest places to play. We stuck to our game plan.”

For Peña and junior outside hitter Cameron Mount the match
was a sort of homecoming, as they grew up in the area ““
Peña is from Santa Ynez and Mount is from Goleta. Both
players’ friends and family attended the match.

“It’s nice to play here in front of people I know,
near my hometown,” Peña said.

UCLA was led by senior outside hitter Matt Komer, who had 17
kills, 3 block assists, and posted a hitting percentage of .469.
Junior middle blocker Scott Morrow had 14 kills, five block
assists, and a team-leading hitting percentage of .565.

“I really liked the way we played,” UCLA head coach
Al Scates said. “We came out and made some sensational digs.
[Libero] Adam Shrader had a very solid game. I know for a fact that
UCSB played better the first time we beat them in Pauley
Pavilion.”

The No. 6 Gauchos (11-5, 7-5) were led by Andy Rivera and Ben
Koski who had 15 and 14 kills, respectively.

The Bruins credited their strong defensive showing to their
preparation for the match.

“We watched an hour and a half of tape of UCSB
playing,” Komer said. “We knew who was going to be
hitting and where they were going to be hitting. We adjusted to
their tendencies.”

Komer plays through the pain of tendinitis, and Scates does not
have him practice ““ a fact that is not stunting his play.

“Komer had good match after good match,” Scates
said. “He was not even allowed to hit in practice before the
match.”

Freshman outside hitter Jonathan Acosta who is recovering from a
torn stomach muscle, is practicing with the team and could play
later this week.

Sophomore outside hitter Jesse Debban underwent successful knee
surgery last week and will need three weeks to recover.