Friday, April 5, 1996
CSUN head coach wary of Bruin serving, hopes to neutralize hot
NihipaliBy Ruben Gutierrez
Daily Bruin Staff
Pauley Pavilion will be fraught with volleyball action this
weekend as the Bruins host the UCLA Collegiate Classic featuring
Cal State Northridge, Loyola Marymount and USC. The No. 2 Bruins
take on the Matadors in tonight’s first match while LMU and USC
square off in the second half of the doubleheader. The winners of
tonight’s matches will compete in the finals tomorrow evening
following a consolation match.
UCLA (17-4 overall, 12-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation)
whipped the Matadors (12-7 overall, 8-5 MPSF) in the teams’ first
conference match of the season 15-2, 15-12, 15-9 at the Matadome.
In that match, sophomore quick hitter Tom Stillwell and the rest of
his Bruin cohorts dominated the net.
Stillwell is fresh off of an 11-kill performance on a team high
.435 attack percentage in Wednesday’s four-game loss to No. 6 UC
Santa Barbara. Stillwell also added nine block assists and should
be a major factor in this match as well.
According to Matador head coach John Price, a key to tomorrow’s
match will be Bruin serving. In setter Stein Metzger, along with
swing hitters Brian Wells and Fred Robins, UCLA possesses three
servers who can pop with pinpoint jump serves on any given evening.
Price believes that CSUN must play a superior passing and receiving
game to have a shot at beating the Bruins.
"If we handle their jump serves relatively well and we pass the
ball relatively well, I don’t think their block will be a big
factor against us," Price said. "If they’re serving tough and we
get into those situations where we only have one or two options and
they have a chance to set up their block and their defense, then I
think it will become a big factor. If their serving is on, they’re
three or four points better right off the bat."
Another concern for the Matadors will be the play of Bruin
All-American opposite hitter Paul Nihipali. With a 6-foot-8-inch
frame, Nihipali also gave CSUN fits at the net earlier this season,
despite nursing a cartilage tear in his shoulder. Since recovering
from the injury, Nihipali’s offensive production has gone through
the roof. Although he had an off night against UCSB, he still
managed a team-high 25 kills and eight block assists.
"The only way to slow him down is by serving tough," Price said.
"I think you slow him down  and you only slow him down, you
don’t stop him  if you can serve tough and get them into
situations where they only have one option in terms of
setting."
A team plagued by its own inconsistency, the Matadors have
relied largely on middle blocker Dirk Schleuter. CSUN’s two outside
hitters, Collin Smith and Chad Strickland have also been steady
all-around performers this season.
Given their track record, there is little reason to believe the
Bruins will not advance to tomorrow evening’s final against either
USC or LMU, both squads which the Bruins have already defeated this
season. In addition, the Bruins may receive some emotional
incentive with the jersey retiring of Bruin great Ricci Luyties, a
two-time All-American and Player of the Year as a setter for
UCLA.
"Basically, the first time we played was a joke," Price said.
"If we play like we’ve been playing, we’ll be competitive, but if
we play like we did last time, the match will be over within an
hour."
* * *
Beach chairs will be handed out to the first 500 fans in
attendance at tonight’s game.
ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin
Sophomore Tom Stillwell had 11 kills on a .435 attack percentage
against UCSB.