5/1 UCLA vs. Pepperdine University
4/30 Pepperdine vs. Princeton University
4/30 UCLA vs. Lewis University
Championship Match
UCLA vs. Pepperdine University
Saturday, May 1, 1998 - 6:30 p.m. (HST)
| TEAMS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
TEAM RECORDS |
| UCLA |
15 |
15 |
15 |
|
|
28-4 |
| Pepperdine |
11 |
11 |
7 |
|
|
23-5 |
Box Score
UCLA Sweeps Pepperdine to Capture Championship
UCLA won their third national title in four
years with a 15-11, 15-11, 15-7 win over top-seeded Pepperdine
in the finals of the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship Saturday
night. A record crowd of 9,822 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched
the second-seeded Bruins dominate Pepperdine in nearly every facet
of the game and avenge last week's loss to the Waves in the MPSF
Tournament finals.
With the win, UCLA head coach Al Scates
collected his 17th title, an all-time NCAA single-sport record
by a coach.
With All-America Brandon Taliaferro directing
the offense, the Bruins were nearly unstoppable, hitting .454
for the match. Adam Navae, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player,
led a balanced UCLA attack with 23 kills. Evan Thatcher added
21 and Tom Stillwell had 18. Fred Robins and Brian Moselle rounded
up the attack with 17 and 15 kills, respectively.
"That's the first time we had all five
hitters hitting well," said Scates.
The Bruins also served decidedly better.
After registering only one ace and 27 errors in their loss to
Pepperdine last week, the Bruins set the tone early with tough
serving. The Bruins four aces (nine total in the game) proved
to be the difference in a 15-11 opening game win.
A pivotal moment occurred with the score
deadlocked at 2-2 in the second game when Pepperdine middle blocker
Chris Jacobson was forced to leave the game with an injured ankle.
Without Jacobson, the Waves were burned by the Bruins, who reeled
off eight unanswered points and hit at a .857 clip during the
stretch. The Waves mounted a comeback, but were unable to recover
in the pivotal Game 2.
AVCA Player of the Year George Roumain led
Pepperdine with 22 kills.
The two-day attendance figure for this year's
tournament was 18,901, a new NCAA record.
Semi-Final Matches
UCLA vs. Lewis University
Thursday, April 30, 1998 - 6:30 p.m. (HST)
| TEAMS |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
TEAM RECORDS |
| Lewis University |
15 |
9 |
6 |
15 |
11 |
25-9 |
| UCLA |
13 |
15 |
15 |
13 |
15 |
27-4 |
Box Score
Upstart Flyers take Bruins the distance
Lewis University nearly pulled off the improbable,
but in the end UCLA showed championship grit. All-American Adam
Naeve had 34 kills as the second-seeded Bruins outlasted the third-seeded
Flyers, 13-15, 15-9, 15-6, 13-15, 15-11, in the semifinals of
the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship Thursday night.
A near-capacity crowd at the Stan Sheriff
Center watched the two teams wage battle for three hours before
Danny Farmer's kill in the rally-scoring fifth game send UCLA
to their sixth consecutive final. The Bruins (27-4) will play
the winner of the second semifinal match between Pepperdine and
Princeton.
Lewis, meanwhile, finished the season at
26-8. The Flyers lost despite a 43-kill effort from All-American
Victor Rivera.
Rivera led an emotionally charged Lewis
squad that showed little fear against the 16-time champion Bruins.
The Midwestern Intercollegiate Player of the Year had 12 kills
to lift the Flyers to victory in a hotly contested opening game.
The Flyers took their momentum into Game
2, putting UCLA on their heels. Consecutive solo blocks by Rivera,
Edgardo Deniz and Ryan McNeil put Lewis ahead 9-7. But the Bruins
roared back, sparked by Farmer, who finished with a career-high
26 kills. The junior quick hitter came off the bench to bury six
kills on six attempts as the UCLA rattled off eight unanswered
points to capture Game 2.
The Bruins would score a string of 19 straight
points en route to Game 2 and 3 victories and a 2-1 match lead.
The third game was a disaster for Lewis as UCLA scored 11 points
before the Flyers were on the scoreboard. The Flyers simply could
not penetrate the Bruin defense which registered 15 blocks and
limited Lewis to a .140 hitting percentage for the game.
Lewis, however, responded with .444 hitting
in a Game 4 victory. The Flyers led wire to wire but it was an
epic battle as the Bruin refused to fold. UCLA fended off 12 game
points before Farmer hit long to give the Flyers a slim 15-13
win.
The Flyers got the crowd roaring, taking
an 8-6 lead on a Eduardo Quinones kill in the rally-scoring fifth.
But their would be no upset. UCLA would score nine of the final
12 points to take the match.
Evan Thatcher added 21 kills for the Bruins,
while All-American Brandon Taliaferro had a school-record 110
assists.
Quinones finished with 26 kills for the
Flyers. McNeil added 16 and Bryan Johnwick had 12.
Pepperdine vs. Princeton
Thursday, April 30, 1998 - 8:30 p.m. (HST)
| TEAM |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
TEAM RECORDS |
| Princeton University |
1 |
6 |
4 |
|
|
16-9 |
| Pepperdine |
15 |
15 |
15 |
|
|
23-4 |
Box Score
Waves Advance to Title Match
George Roumain had 13 kills and nine blocks
as Pepperdine showed little mercy in rolling over Princeton, 15-1,
15-6, 15-4, in the second semifinal match of the NCAA Men's Volleyball
Championships Thursday night at the Stan Sheriff Center. The No.
1 seed Waves advance to the finals Saturday where they will face
second-seeded UCLA, a winner over Lewis in the first semifinal
match.
The Waves used their size advantage and
exploited the inexperienced Tigers from the outset. Princeton,
making their first ever NCAA Final Four appearance, could do little
right as the Waves breezed to a 15-1 opening victory that took
less than 15 minutes. The Tigers hit a measly .042 for the game,
setting the tone for the rest of the match.
The 6-6 Roumain , 6-6 Rick Tune (nine blocks)
and 6-10 Chris Jacobson (4 blocks) formed a massive wall that
out-blocked Princeton, 14-6, while limiting the Tigers to a .141
hitting percentage throughout the night.
Princeton also had difficulty stopping a
balanced Pepperdine attack. Jacobson had 12 kills on .733 hitting,
while Tune, Scott Wong and Peter Kodascy added 10 kills a piece.
As a team, the Waves hit .517 and tallied six service aces.
Princeton was led by senior Scott Birdwell
with 14 kills as the Tigers finished the season 16-9.
Pepperdine will be seeking its fifth NCAA
men's volleyball title on Saturday night and its first since 1992.
The Bruins and Waves have met three times this season already,
with UCLA winning twice. Pepperdine, however, won the most recent
match, a four-game victory in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
tournament championship last week.
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