Monday, April 6, 1998
Bruins run Matadors out of bullring in race for top seed
VOLLEYBALL: Stillwell’s blocking leads UCLA to convincing MPSF
victory
By Grace Wen
Daily Bruin Staff
A two-week hiatus had little affect on the UCLA men’s volleyball
team.
Despite their break, the Bruins rolled to an easy win over Cal
State Northridge last Friday night. UCLA crushed CSUN 15-9, 15-6,
15-8 in just under an hour and a half.
Sophomore Adam Naeve led the attack for UCLA (21-3, 14-2) with
16 kills and one error in 26 attempts for a .577 hitting
percentage.
Ben Moselle and Evan Thatcher each contributed 15 kills while
hitting .636 and .323 respectively.
Tom Stillwell chipped in 11 kills, but it was Stillwell’s
blocking that was key to the Bruin’s victory. The senior middle
blocker posted eight blocks, including two solo stuffs.
"We sided out the same way we always do – very well, very well,"
UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "The hitting was sharp. The
blocking is improving. We dug well. It looked like we got a little
better as the match progressed. It was a good match for us.
"I thought Tom Stillwell really had his blocking down pat. He
blocked very well."
The Bruins held Northridge to a meager .220 attack percentage,
while UCLA was unstoppable with a .420 clip. UCLA outblocked
Northridge 11.5 to 8, but was outdug 37 to 39. Serving was also a
factor as the Bruins outserved the Matadors 5 aces to 3.
Senior Chad Strickland led all hitters with 21 kills, but it was
not enough to keep the Matadors five-match win streak alive.
CSUN dropped to 9-13 with a 5-12 conference record. The Matadors
stand little chance of making the MPSF playoffs since they are in
the cellar of the Mountain Division.
* * *
During a trip to Hawaii two weeks ago, the Bruins split a pair
of matches with the Rainbows. UCLA won Friday night’s conference
match 15-9, 15-13, 11-15, 15-8 but fell the next night during the
non-conference match. Hawaii swept the Bruins 15-6, 15-12,
15-13.
"The second night I didn’t change the game plan," Scates said.
"It was a non-league match and we just went out and played them the
same way. We’ll play them differently in the playoffs when we see
them again. I put all the emphasis on the first night as far as
tactics went."
With two and a half weeks left in the regular season, UCLA still
controls its own destiny in the race for the MPSF crown. If the
Bruins win the rest of their matches, they will probably receive
the top seed in the eight-team MPSF Tournament. The winner of the
tournament receives an automatic bid to the Final Four. UCLA has
already clinched a spot in the tournament along with Pepperdine,
BYU, Hawaii and Stanford.
However, the road to the tournament championship has a few
obstacles. In order to receive a top seed, UCLA must defeat Loyola
Marymount, Pepperdine and UC Irvine in the next two weeks. And the
Bruins will probably face these opponents again during the
tournament.
GENEVIEVE LIANG/Daily Bruin
Adam Naeve eyes a spike at a recent home match.