By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
LONG BEACH “”mdash; After the UCLA men’s volleyball team
lost in the finals of the NCAA championship, senior Mark Williams
was the only Bruin player at the press conference.
While Head Coach Al Scates fielded questions from the media, the
names of the BYU players echoed over the loudspeaker as they were
called up to receive their championship watches.
Williams just sat there, a blank look on his face, dutifully
answering what few questions were directed toward him.
“It’s difficult (for Mark), particularly since
it’s his first time,” Scates said. “(Mark)
hasn’t had to do that before.”
And he’s right in more than one sense. With the tradition
of excellence at UCLA, the Bruins haven’t lost an NCAA final
since 1994. So on one hand, Williams hasn’t experienced a
loss of this magnitude in his entire collegiate career.
On the other hand, this is also Williams’ first year in a
leadership position. As the team captain, he’s been a steady
and reliable spokesperson, both on and off the court. This marked
the first time Williams has had to represent the Bruins in such a
trying situation.
Along with fellow senior Adam Naeve, Williams led the team all
the way to the NCAA finals. But on any other team, these two
wouldn’t stand out as leaders. After four years with past
captain Brandon Taliaferro, who was known for his intensity on the
court, Naeve and Williams had big shoes to fill.
As a group, the two seniors definitely weren’t the most
vocal on the court. Instead their experience and skills allowed
them to lead by example.
“(Mark) was a good captain,” Scates said. “He
had a good rapport with officials and he was very
positive.”
“Adam kinda took the place of Brandon in some aspects of
giving everybody a kick in the butt out there,” he
continued.
Naeve, a four-time All-American selection who redshirted last
season to try out for the U.S. Olympic team, became the UCLA career
aces leader, surpassing former leader Brandon Taliaferro by two
(178).
Naeve has received All-Conference honors for four years and was
named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player in 1998
when UCLA won the national title.
In the final match versus BYU, Naeve led the Bruins with 16
kills and was named to the All-Tournament team with fellow middle
blocker sophomore Scott Morrow.
Williams, who played libero for the Australian national team in
the 2000 Olympics, also received first-team All-American honors
this season.
“It wasn’t the type of leadership we had last year
because they’re just not that vocal,” Scates said.
“But these guys got us to the finals and got us in position
to get to the championship.”
Though the season didn’t end the way either of the seniors
wanted it to, they certainly have nothing to be ashamed of. Both
will leave with championship rings, Naeve with one from the 1998
season and Williams with two, one from 1998 and one from 2000.
And even though their collegiate careers are over, both are far
from retiring from volleyball altogether.
With his passing, hitting and serving abilities, Williams, who
received his AAA (a level of beach volleyball) rating in 1996, will
head to the beach for what Scates believes is a promising career.
In 2004, he may even have a repeat performance with the Australian
national team.
Naeve intends to go to Colorado to train with the national team,
this time with a better mindset and brighter hopes of making the
team.
“When he came back he was not the same player,”
Scates said. “He just didn’t get much time with them on
the floor but he had to go back there and try. He’ll have a
good mindset going back to the national team.”
As Williams left the press conference, Scates pulled him aside
and told him he had had a great volleyball career at UCLA and that
he should hold his head high.
Coming from a man with 39 years of coaching experience, that
seems to be good advice ““ for both of them.