By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Two things were evident for the UCLA men’s volleyball team
as the 2000 season started: first, some serious redemption was
required after last year’s ugly first-round loss in the
league playoffs. Second, with only one big-name player returning
““ senior setter Brandon Taliaferro ““ all the odds were
against the Bruins.
But UCLA head coach Al Scates called it early on. When
Volleyball Magazine interviewed him before the season started,
Scates told them that since his team didn’t win it last year,
they’d have to win it all this year.
“I thought we had the talent and the coaching staff to be
number one at the end of the year,” he said.
The 2000 season, which culminated in Indiana last weekend with
UCLA’s 18th national championship, was by far not a year of
Bruin domination. No, it was one of several ups and downs.
The Bruins opened the season with the ultimate confidence
booster: an upset of preseason favorite Long Beach State in the
first match of the Wyndham Tournament. Taliaferro left midway
through that match because of back spasms, so true freshman Rich
Nelson set the Bruins to the win.
“It showed we had depth at every position,” Scates
said.
With one junior, one true freshman and five seniors on the
roster, including Evan Thatcher and transfer Ed Ratledge sharing
opposite, the top-ranked Bruins then won their next eight before
dropping a five-game match to then-No. 5 USC (for their first loss
to the Trojans after a 13-match winning streak). Then they lost
another close match to then-No. 3 Pepperdine soon after.
But the team was really hurt when Taliaferro went out for the
next five matches because of his back. In his absence the Bruins
slid into a slump of lackadaisical play, even getting upset by Cal
State Northridge for the Matadors’ first win over the Bruins
in 18 matches.
The turning point of the season, then, were the two BYU matches.
The Cougars, the defending national champions, came to Westwood on
a six-match winning streak and with a No. 3 national ranking. The
Bruins were then ranked only No. 6 and Taliaferro’s condition
was still uncertain.
At this crucial moment, UCLA came out on top. In four games
each, and with Taliaferro at the helm, the Bruins sent the Cougars
home with two losses. More importantly, they regained their own
confidence.
“Those two games against BYUÂ turned things around for
us,” senior libero Matt Davis said. “Things
didn’t go too well before that.”
UCLA continued on this tear for the next four weeks, winning
seven straight. But then winter quarter finals hit, spring break
came, and when school started again, the Bruins weren’t in
peak condition.
Facing a fired-up Loyola Marymount squad they had beaten once
already, but one that now needed to win to make league playoffs,
UCLA dropped its first-ever match to the Lions in just four games,
5-15, 15-5, 10-15, 10-15.
Although no one on the team lost faith in their championship
quest, if there was a time the players doubted themselves, it was
then.
“That was probably the lowest point right there. That was
the lowest our confidence had ever been,” senior quick hitter
Seth Burnham said.
Actually, according to Scates, losing to LMU was probably the
best thing that could’ve happened to the Bruins at that
moment.
“That’s what I call a good loss,” he said.
“It instilled a new work ethic into the team. That sent a
message that we needed to be prepared every time we stepped on the
court.”
The Bruins started by upsetting No. 1 Pepperdine just two days
later, though UCLA then dropped its next match to Long Beach State
at The Pyramid.
But if there’s one thing the Bruin men’s volleyball
program is famous for, it’s coming up big when it matters
most: the season’s end. They prepared for it with an easy
sweep of UC Irvine in the last regular season match.
Then came the great postseason run. With everyone saying that
the MPSF championship would come down to No. 1 Long Beach, No. 2
USC or No. 3 Pepperdine, No. 4 UCLA snuck up on everyone.
“It always comes down to the last couple weeks of the
season,” Davis said. “Coach Scates is known for
preparing the team to play well at the end of the year.”
First, the Bruins beat BYU in the first round of the MPSF
playoffs for their third win over BYU on the year.
“We came out and we didn’t win shaky, we won
solid,” Burnham said. “It felt pretty good going into
the second round.”
It helped that eighth-seeded LMU upset top-seeded Long Beach
State in the first round, meaning that the Bruins would get their
chance to avenge their loss to the Lions.
“We wanted to get back at them as soon as possible, make
sure they knew it was just a fluke,” Burnham said.
So in a tough four-game match, UCLA beat LMU in the MPSF
semifinals. In the other semifinal, Pepperdine defeated USC to set
up the third Bruin-Wave matchup of the season for the MPSF
championship.
And there, in a dazzling display of heart and skill, UCLA
silenced all the critics with a four-game win.
“The most crucial game was against Pepperdine. I
don’t think we would have received the at-large bid,”
Scates said of the match, which resulted in UCLA getting the
MPSF’s automatic bid to the Final Four. “I just felt we
had to beat Pepperdine. So I didn’t have much sleep from that
point until we won the NCAA Championships.”
With the victory, the Bruins earned a trip to Fort Wayne, Ind.,
also the site of the most infamous year in UCLA men’s
volleyball history. In 1994, Penn State pulled a miraculous upset
over the top-ranked Bruins in Fort Wayne to become the first
non-MPSF team to win the national championship.
But the Bruins pushed all Indiana demons aside with a sweep of
Penn State in the first round. They expected to do the same in the
final to Pepperdine, which got the Final Four’s at-large
berth.
But an unexpected thing happened ““ Midwest champion Ohio
State also swept Pepperdine in the NCAA semifinals, becoming only
the fifth non-West Coast team ever to make it to the NCAA
finals.
The Buckeyes were the only top 15 team UCLA had not faced this
year, and only one of two top 15 teams it had not beaten. They were
a mystery.
“Ohio State was a team we hadn’t seen much
before,” Davis said. “Out of any match of the year,
that was the one we didn’t know what to expect.”
Still, UCLA made it look easy when they swept the Buckeyes 15-8,
15-10 17-15 for their fifth title in eight years.
“I think the best team we played all year was Ohio
State,” Scates said. “But by that time we had peaked.
We were better than anybody.”
Seniors Burnham, Thatcher and Taliaferro earned All-Tournament
honors, and Taliaferro was named the tournament MVP.
Looking back, besides the championship match, one of
Scates’ favorite matches of the year was the opening one
against Long Beach. The reason is not just because the Bruins upset
the No. 1 Beach, but because they did it behind the setting of a
newcomer in Rich Nelson.
“It told me that in 2001 our setting position will be in
good hands,” Scates said.
Not only that, but next year’s team will also have three
returning starters in junior outside hitter Mark Williams and
freshman middle blocker Scott Morrow, both All-MPSF third team
selections, and sophomore outside hitter Matt Komer. Three-time
All-American senior middle blocker Adam Naeve will likely be back
for his final year of eligibility after taking a year off to
practice with the U.S. National Team. And don’t forget that
this year’s backup outside hitter Cameron Mount never failed
to inspire the team from off the bench with his energy.
So coach, how do you think you guys will do next year?
“I think we’ll win it,” Scates said.
Surprise, surprise.