Waves end match washed up

Published: Friday, January 30, 1998

Friday, January 30, 1998

VOLLEYBALL: Middle blocker Naeve leads team to victory despite taunts of hostile crowd

By Grace Wen

Daily Bruin Staff

In Firestone Fieldhouse, there is a poster that says "Bruins Can't Surf."

The UCLA men's volleyball team not only proved that it could surf, it rode the Waves to a thrilling five-game victory on enemy turf. Before a crowd of about 1,500 people, the Bruins defeated the Waves 15-13, 13-15, 4-15, 17-16, 15-12.

"I knew that if we were going to win it had to go five games or at least four," UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "If it was three, I knew it was going to be us on the short end of the stick.

But, to win in this gym with a 20-foot ceiling and the stands right next to the floor, it's quite good to do that."

Despite the hostile crowd that jeered him all night, the Bruins snatched a victory from the Waves by riding the arm of middle blocker Adam Naeve. The sophomore hit a team high 38 kills while blocking six balls.

UCLA held a six-point lead before a furious comeback by Pepperdine that gave the Waves a one point lead at 12-13. The Bruins, however, tied the match and took the lead with two kills by Adam Naeve. The Waves were able to side out eight times before a net violation ended the game.

After winning game one, UCLA seemed to go cold during the match. Pepperdine appeared to have all the momentum as UCLA missed serve after serve and failed to score points.

The Bruins were down 5-10 before Scates subbed in middle blocker Danny Farmer for Tom Stillwell. It worked as UCLA allowed only two points while scoring the next seven.

Pepperdine, however, wasn't going to let this game slip away. Two kills by opposite George Roumain and a block by Chris Jacobsen ended game two. Roumain proved to be a powerful force throughout the night as he pounded 15 kills in game two and finished the night with a match-high 41 kills.

But even when Roumain cooled off, other Pepperdine hitters were there to step up. Freshman Scott Wong hammered 29 kills and was unstoppable in game three.

Luckily for the Bruins, the play of its own outstanding freshman kept UCLA in the match. Mark Williams was inserted into the game to replace a struggling Fred Robins.

Williams came off the bench to hit 18 kills but it wasn't just his hitting prowess that helped UCLA. In game four, the freshman made a spectacular dig to keep UCLA in the game and the match as UCLA squeaked out a win.

"I think it was real hard played by both teams, not necessarily well played," Pepperdine head coach Marv Dunphy said. "The good play was inconsistent. It was a pretty good match for this early in the season."

Daily Bruin File Photo

Brandon Taliaferro guards Stanford.