Photos by EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior outsider hitter
Mark Williams hits the ball over Hawai’i setter
Kimo Tuyay in the MPSF championship game.
By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Here we go again.
UCLA, the men’s volleyball national champions of 2000, are
back to defend their title. They take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in
the semifinals of the NCAA tournament at the Long Beach Pyramid
tonight at 4.
Once again, UCLA (23-7) came out of nowhere to win the MPSF
championship and earn the top seed at the NCAA tournament for the
second year in a row. Considering BYU (21-4) was ranked No. 1 for
most of the season, UCLA’s performance may have come as
somewhat of a surprise.
“I’m sure some people were surprised, but none of
our fans were,” sophomore setter Rich Nelson said. “I
think most people figured that BYU would just walk away with it but
that didn’t happen.”
The Bruins stepped it up when it counted, defeating Stanford
(3-2) in the first round, Long Beach (3-2) in the semifinals and
Hawai’i (3-1) to take the championship.
“We were probably everybody’s last pick,”
senior quick hitter Adam Naeve said. “I don’t know why,
though. UCLA has a tradition of winning the championship. I
don’t know why we’re not the favorite.”
Going into the NCAAs, they still may not be.
BYU, which finished atop the MPSF Pacific Division, advanced to
the semifinals where they were defeated by Hawai’i 3-1.
 Junior outside hitter Matt Komer spikes
the ball in the MPSF
semifinals against Long Beach State.
Despite falling just short of expectations, the Cougars earned
the at-large bid, making them the second seed in the four-team NCAA
tournament.
Though the West Coast teams aren’t too worried about the
Midwest seed, Ohio State (21-6), or the East Coast seed, Penn State
(24-7), they still may have to contend with each other come finals
time.
If BYU defeats Penn State Thursday evening and UCLA beats OSU,
the Cougars and Bruins will play each other. But, as the MPSF
playoffs illustrated, nothing’s a sure bet.
“BYU choked against Hawai’i so anything is
possible,” Nelson said. “The one reason I’d want
to play BYU is because they’re the only team in the
conference that we played and haven’t beat yet, so to go in
there and beat them would top the whole year off.”
But first each of the MPSF teams will have to get past their
midwestern and eastern opponents ““ something which may not be
too difficult.
“The MPSF playoffs feature the top teams in the country.
That tourney itself is more like an NCAA final,” sophomore
quick hitter Scott Morrow said.
Last year, the toughest matches UCLA played were in the MPSF
conference championships. Once they got to Fort Wayne, Ind., and
the NCAA tournament, they rolled through the competition, defeating
Penn State 3-0 in the semifinals and OSU 3-0 for the title.
“I don’t think (East Coast and Midwest teams)
compare at all, really,” Naeve said. “The better teams
are on the West Coast. Ohio State and Penn State are good teams but
the competition they have out there is nothing like we have
here.”
OSU, the MIVA champion, defeated Loyola University, Chicago 3-1
to earn the fourth seed and their 13th tournament appearance. Penn
State, the top team in the EIVA, swept Concordia 3-0 for the third
seed and their 16th appearance.
Other than these basic stats though, UCLA and BYU aren’t
familiar with tonight’s opponents.
“Probably the toughest part of the game is that we
don’t know much about them,” Naeve said. “But
I’m sure (UCLA Head Coach Al Scates) will get us as prepped
as possible.”
With the 18-time NCAA championship coach on their side, the
Bruins are poised to go for number 19.
“Throughout my career here we’ve always played the
best volleyball at the end of the season,” Naeve said.
“It’s been our goal to win this thing so we’re
all stepping it up.”
AVCA FIRST-TEAM ALL-AMERICA UCLA will likely
face BYU in this weekend’s NCAA Tournament Player
Institution Pos
Yr Ht Hometown
Fabiano Barreto Lewis Opp Fr. 6-6 Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil Scott
Bunker BYU MB Sr. 6-5 Beaver, Utah David McKienzie Long Beach St.
Opp Sr. 6-4 Littleton, Colo. Hector Lebron BYU Set Sr. 6-2 San
Juan, Puerto Rico Adam Naeve UCLA MB Sr. 6-10 Westchester, Calif.
Jose Quinones Penn State Set Jr. 6-3 Bayamon, Puerto Rico Costas
Theocharidis Hawai’i OH So. 6-3 Orestiada, Greece Mike Wall BYU Opp
Jr. 6-4 Santa Barbara, Calif. Mark Williams UCLA OH Sr. 6-7 Los
Angeles, Calif. SOURCE: UCLA Sports Info. Original graphic by
VICTOR CHEN/Daily Bruin Web adaptation by ROB HOM & BEN
TSENG