Monday, March 9, 1998
After first loss, Bruins go for the kill
VOLLEYBALL: Friday’s errors quickly corrected for almost
flawless follow-up
By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Staff
BYU set out to prove that the top-ranked and undefeated UCLA
men’s volleyball team wasn’t perfect, and they did so impressively
with a 15-12, 15-10, 15-8 victory on Friday night.
"Maybe they were not prepared to play," BYU head coach Carl
McGown said after Friday’s match. "We were certainly more into the
match. We’re at their place, they’re No. 1. So we get excited to
play. I’m sure that tomorrow night will be a lot more
different."
McGown’s prophetic words came true Saturday night as the Bruins
(17-1 overall, 11-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation)
responded to their first loss of the season with an almost flawless
performance. The Cougars (9-3, 9-3) succumbed to the Bruins in
three games 15-5, 15-11, 15-13.
In Friday’s loss the Bruins were out-blocked a ridiculous 19 to
4.5 and out-hit .349 to .225. Three Bruins hit for negative
averages while the trio of junior quick hitter Ryan Millar (22
kills), junior opposite Ossie Antonetti (22) and freshman quick
hitter Shane Van Beest (6 blocks) led the Cougars.
"We were just on," Millar said Friday night. "The coaches did a
really good job telling us where to block and we just stuck with
it. It worked out well and it’s very nice."
UCLA head coach Al Scates called for an impromptu, two-hour
video session on Saturday to study what went wrong.
The result was a complete turnaround. Only Antonetti experienced
success on Saturday with 24 kills as the Bruins aimed at improving
their blocking and taking away both Millar and Van Beest. UCLA
out-blocked BYU 15 to 12.5 and senior swing hitter Ben Moselle lead
the attack with 26 kills.
"We had to take away all their tendencies and make them beat us
doing something they didn’t do last night," Scates said. "We did a
pretty good job. They out-blocked us last night two to one and we
out-blocked them tonight."
UCLA players like junior swing hitter Fred Robins came out with
something to prove. Robins collected 2.5 blocks and 22 digs. Scates
believes that probably 10 of the 22 digs were converted into UCLA
points.
The only knock on the Bruins’ performance on Saturday was the
inability to finish the match. Up 14-10 in the third game, UCLA
squandered nine match points and allowed the Cougars back into the
game. On the 10th match point, up 14-13, UCLA senior quick hitter
Tom Stillwell served an ace to end the match.
"We have a habit of letting up when we’re ahead," Robins said.
"We can’t do that anymore. It’s showtime. We have to get out there
and hammer them. We just can’t let up and do things like this
because teams like (BYU) will come back on us. Maybe even win the
game. So we have to go out there and kill them."
The Bruins are no longer undefeated and must re-focus, but a
loss is never detrimental to a team’s cause unless it comes in the
post-season.
Therefore UCLA’s loss on Friday night will take the pressure of
an undefeated season away and allow them to concentrate on their
national championship aspirations.
"I’m not disappointed (about not being undefeated anymore),"
sophomore quick hitter Adam Naeve, who tallied 45 kills this
weekend, said. "I thought it was good for us. It’s a wake-up call
for one and it definitely showed us our weaknesses. Now we can work
on them."