Friday, January 30, 1998
Waves end match washed up
VOLLEYBALL: Middle blocker Naeve leads team to victory despite
taunts of hostile crowd
By Grace Wen
Daily Bruin Staff
In Firestone Fieldhouse, there is a poster that says "Bruins
Can’t Surf."
The UCLA men’s volleyball team not only proved that it could
surf, it rode the Waves to a thrilling five-game victory on enemy
turf. Before a crowd of about 1,500 people, the Bruins defeated the
Waves 15-13, 13-15, 4-15, 17-16, 15-12.
"I knew that if we were going to win it had to go five games or
at least four," UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "If it was three, I
knew it was going to be us on the short end of the stick.
But, to win in this gym with a 20-foot ceiling and the stands
right next to the floor, it’s quite good to do that."
Despite the hostile crowd that jeered him all night, the Bruins
snatched a victory from the Waves by riding the arm of middle
blocker Adam Naeve. The sophomore hit a team high 38 kills while
blocking six balls.
UCLA held a six-point lead before a furious comeback by
Pepperdine that gave the Waves a one point lead at 12-13. The
Bruins, however, tied the match and took the lead with two kills by
Adam Naeve. The Waves were able to side out eight times before a
net violation ended the game.
After winning game one, UCLA seemed to go cold during the match.
Pepperdine appeared to have all the momentum as UCLA missed serve
after serve and failed to score points.
The Bruins were down 5-10 before Scates subbed in middle blocker
Danny Farmer for Tom Stillwell. It worked as UCLA allowed only two
points while scoring the next seven.
Pepperdine, however, wasn’t going to let this game slip away.
Two kills by opposite George Roumain and a block by Chris Jacobsen
ended game two. Roumain proved to be a powerful force throughout
the night as he pounded 15 kills in game two and finished the night
with a match-high 41 kills.
But even when Roumain cooled off, other Pepperdine hitters were
there to step up. Freshman Scott Wong hammered 29 kills and was
unstoppable in game three.
Luckily for the Bruins, the play of its own outstanding freshman
kept UCLA in the match. Mark Williams was inserted into the game to
replace a struggling Fred Robins.
Williams came off the bench to hit 18 kills but it wasn’t just
his hitting prowess that helped UCLA. In game four, the freshman
made a spectacular dig to keep UCLA in the game and the match as
UCLA squeaked out a win.
"I think it was real hard played by both teams, not necessarily
well played," Pepperdine head coach Marv Dunphy said. "The good
play was inconsistent. It was a pretty good match for this early in
the season."
Daily Bruin File Photo
Brandon Taliaferro guards Stanford.