Thursday, April 16, 1998
Volleyball briefs
VOLLEYBALL:
MPSF standings
Tuesday night concluded conference play for the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation.
UCLA won its sixth straight Mountain Division title and finished
the regular season with a 17-2 league record. Hawaii won the
Pacific Division with a 16-3 record. The two teams will likely meet
in the finals of the MPSF playoffs, which begin this weekend.
Taliaferro Player of the Week
Setter Brandon Taliaferro was named the National and MPSF Player
of the Week. The sophomore led UCLA to wins in its last three
conference matches and played an especially key role in the Bruins’
win against Pepperdine.
Taliaferro tallied his first career triple double during the
match with 71 assists, 13 digs and 11 kills. Taliaferro also led
UCLA in serving (5 aces), blocks (6) and in hitting percentage with
a .769 clip. He set UCLA to a .330 team hitting percentage against
the Waves.
Missing in action
Fred Robins sat out Tuesday night’s game against UC Irvine.
Robins traveled with the team to Irvine but did not suit up for the
match. The junior outside hitter twisted his knee Friday during a
match against Pepperdine.
Robins has not played or practiced since then. He will have an
MRI done late Wednesday night and should find out the results this
morning.
Without Robins the UCLA bench is not as deep as the Bruins would
like. Robins and Freshman Mark Williams have competed with one
another all year at the outside hitter position. With Robins in the
lineup, the Bruins have steadier passing and better defense. Robins
ranks fourth in the nation in digs with 2.52 per game. With
Williams in the lineup UCLA gets better hitting and serving.
The depth of the bench was tested when UCLA head coach Al Scates
pulled Ben Moselle from the lineup on Tuesday night. Sophomore Matt
Davis came into replace a complacent Moselle who struggled to hit
five kills with four errors for a .091 clip.
Bruins ranked on top, sort of
For the third straight week, UCLA ranks No. 1 in the AVCA
coaches poll but Volleyball Magazine has the Bruins ranked second
behind Ohio State.
The Buckeyes have amassed a 25-1 record and have defeated West
Coast teams such as Pepperdine, San Diego State and LMU. OSU will
most likely represent the midwest region in the NCAA Final
Four.