UCLA vs UCSB

[mikesmith]

The Bruins beat the Gauchos in 4, 28-30 31-29 30-23 30-15. UCLA goes to UH to play on Saturday.

Matt Wade started for the Bruins, and got some good playoff experience. Dennis Gonzales came in, as he did against CSUN and won.

Klosterman is hitting the ball hard again, and looks to be completely healed from his surgery.

UCLA will be tough to beat in playoffs. They also have played one playoff game. 1-0!

Go Bruins

[mikesmith]

Darn Aaronic.

[mikesmith]

I have new feelings about the matches.

UCLA over UH in 5
CSUN over Pepperdine in 5
BYU over Long Beach in 4

[wholeinone04]

uh over ucla in 5
csun over pepp in 4
long beach over byu in4 or 5

by the way, was wade playing that bad, or did they just wanna mix it up by bringing in Denis?

[Mac]

Bruins Extend Streak to Nine Matches with Four-Game Victory
UCLA advances to quarterfinals against No.2 Hawaii Saturday in Honolulu.



April 19, 2006


Seventh-ranked UCLA beat No.9 UC Santa Barbara 3-1 Wednesday in the first round of the MPSF playoffs in Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins won 28-30, 31-29, 30-23, 30-15 in one hour and 49 minutes before 525 fans. The victory raised UCLA's record to 21-12 and extended its season-best winning streak to nine matches. UC Santa Barbara ended its season with a record of 13-16.

The Bruins now advance to the MPSF quarterfinals at No.2 Hawaii (23-4) on Sat., Apr. 22 at 7 p.m. HT. The Warriors have won 19 straight matches, including a pair of league contests against the Bruins, Mar. 10 and 11 in Honolulu. On Jan. 20, UCLA defeated Hawaii, 3-2 in the final match of UH's Outrigger Hotels Invitational.

Against UCSB, the Bruins overcame some early sluggish play to overpower the Gauchos by the end of the match. The Gauchos surprised the Bruins in Game 1 with solid blocking (4.0) and hitting (.324) to take a 1-0 lead. In particular, junior Aaron Richman spiked seven kills (.500) and served an ace on the first play of the game.

In Game 2, the Bruins hit just .167 as the Gauchos racked up 10.0 blocks. But UCLA slammed 19 kills, four more than UCSB, and seemed to catch fire when senior David Russell made a one-handed solo block on UCSB setter Max Klineman. The Bruins held a five-point lead at 25-20, but UCSB climbed back, tying the game at 29-29 when UCLA's Paul George committed a hitting error. Russell's kill gave the Bruins a one-point edge and a hitting error by UCSB's Bryan Berman tied the match.

Flustered, the Gauchos never really threatened in Game 3. The Bruins moved out to a 6-1 lead on a pair of aces and a kill by Russell. UCSB never got closer than three points with the Bruins outscoring them 4-0 down the stretch to take a 2-1 lead. In this game, the Bruins hit .424 as UCSB recorded zero blocks and hit just .229.

In Game 4, the Gauchos melted as the Bruins ignited. UCLA hit .583 on 16 kills, nine by junior Steve Klosterman. They also recorded five blocks and two aces, both by Russell who recorded a career-high of five for the match. The Gauchos hit .065 with just nine kills.

Klosterman led the Bruins with 22 kills and 23.5 points. Senior Damien Scott (10 kills, 13 digs) and junior Paul George (14 kills, 12 digs) each recorded double-doubles. Russell hit .550 with a line of 11-0-20 and senior setter Dennis Gonzalez, who entered the match in Game 2, added four kills (1.000) and scored five points. Libero Tony Ker added 15 digs and passed 27 chances without an error.

Richman led the Gauchos with 17 kills, two aces and four total blocks. Sophomore Theo Brunner added 10 kills and a match high of six total blocks.

[Mac]

Eighth-Seeded Gauchos Fall to Seventh-Seeded UCLA in MPSF Tournament Play-in Game
Aaron Richman Posts 17 Kills but UCSB Can't Match Bruins' Klosterman, Lose 28-30, 31-29, 30-23, 30-15


April 19, 2006

Box Score

Los Angeles, Calif. - The No. 9 UC Santa Barbara men's volleyball team won its first game of the season against No. 7 UCLA Wednesday night in the MPSF Tournament Play-in game, but it would lose its fourth consecutive match to the Bruins on the season, 3-1.

Steve Klosterman dominated the match for the Bruins, offering 22 kills kills and two blocks. Aaron Richman put the Gauchos on his back for most of the match, leading the team with 17 kills and almost winning the second game by virtue of his will.

The Gauchos appeared as if they were primed for an upset in the first game, jumping out to a 14-10 lead after a Derek Otte kill. The Bruins were flustered by the Gaucho block as UCSB dealt the Bruins four in the first game. The Gauchos pushed their lead to as many as five at 20-15, but the Bruins slowly crawled back in the game, pinching Santa Barbara's lead to one at 29-28, but sophomore middle blocker Theo Brunner's kill put game one in the books for the Gauchos.

UCSB had a chance to take a 2-0 lead as they battled back from a 14-18 deficit to tie the second game at 29-29. Richman was responsible for the Gauchos' final six points, but it wouldn't be enough. A David Russell kill put the Bruins up 30-29 and a Bryan Berman hitting error knotted the match at 1-1.

With momentum at their backs and Klosterman swinging well, the Gauchos quickly fell behind in the third game 1-6. Despite many attempts to close the gamp, the closest UCSB would come would be at 21-25, but from there the Bruins would go on a 5-2 run to close out the third game and go up 2-1 in the match.

The third game was more of the same. Klosterman continued to assert himself as the dominant player on the court and Santa Barbara quickly fell behind again 4-11. UCSB would never lead in the fourth game, eventually succumbing by 15 point margin, 30-15.

UCSB finishes its season with a 13-16 overall record and an eighth-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Bruins move on to the MPSF quarterfinals and will travel to No. 2 Hawaii this weekend. The Bruins move to 21-12 overall on the season.

[JB Southpaw]

Glad to see Klosterman doing well, he was getting bagged on pretty had the last 2 years. Seemed like a very good/humble kid when I met him durning 18s juniors.

[bigfan]

UCLA, Pepperidne, LBSU to win

[Mac]

www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/news/articles.asp?id=36787

Senior shines in play-in victory

MICHAEL SUN/daily bruin staff

In his final home match Wednesday night, redshirt senior middle blocker David Russell had a performance for the ages, recording 11 kills without an error in the Bruins’ 3-1 victory over UC Santa Barbara. The Bruins now advance to face Hawai’i.

By Allison Ho
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
[e-mail]

Nearly always overshadowed by his teammates' efforts, redshirt senior middle blocker David Russell never truly had his time in the limelight.

But tonight was his night to shine.

Russell led the Bruins to a 28-30, 31-29, 30-23, 30-15 victory over UC Santa Barbara (13-16) in the play-in match Wednesday night, keeping their championship dreams alive. UCLA (21-12) extended its win streak to nine games, while the Gauchos will begin their long offseason.

On a night where UCSB was blocking balls as if it were a wall, it could not stop Russell.

Wednesday proved to be a field day for Russell as he slammed down an error-free 11 kills with a hitting clip of .550.

"My family was coming, my sister, my brother; it's the last time that they possibly would see me play," Russell said. "So I just went out there and did everything that I could."

Russell rocketed down five aces as well, and put the Gauchos in constant passing trouble.

"His serving was amazing," said junior opposite Steve Klosterman, who was also a core contributor Wednesday night, adding 22 kills. "I think it almost won us the match. They couldn't pass anything and he had a bunch of aces. I think he really stepped up."

"I started him serving first because he had a good day in practice yesterday here in Pauley," coach Al Scates said. "He was at home yesterday and he had the same rhythm today."

But perhaps the night will be remembered as the one when Russell, turned sideways, blocked a Gaucho overpass kill with one arm. It was a last-second defense that turned out to be the momentum shifter.

Though the Bruins had the home court advantage, it wasn't until that moment midway through the second game that the UCLA fans erupted in support of their home team. When Russell sent the ball ricocheting off Gauchos and down for the emphatic point, the crowd was on its feet and the Bruins finally got the energy that was missing in the first game.

Up until that play, though the UCLA band was in attendance, the yell crew was cheering, and the sport court donned the UCLA colors, the Gauchos seemed to be more at home and in control than the Bruins. UCSB came out fiery and with much more energy than the home favorite Bruins, while UCLA came out flat.

"Apparently it didn't feel like home because we sure didn't play very well the first two games," Scates said. "But we played very well in the third and fourth games, so it's how you finish that counts."

"We took them a little for granted in the beginning," Klosterman said. "But you can never take a team for granted in an elimination game. They showed a lot of fire from the beginning.

"Our rhythm just wasn't that great. We were pretty determined after we lost (the first game). That kind of shocked us into it, shook us up."

Also providing a spark off the bench for the Bruins for the second time in a week was redshirt senior setter Dennis Gonzalez. With the Gauchos waiting at the Bruin attackers' doorstep each set, UCLA brought Gonzalez in to bring a new look and feel to the Bruins' predictable offense.

"I came in and tried to fire people up," Gonzalez said.

"All the seniors really stepped up, especially when Dennis came in," Klosterman said.

With the win, UCLA has earned the right to face off against the second-seeded University of Hawai'i Warriors on Saturday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation quarterfinals.

[swingaway]

Santa Barbara News Press

Gauchos block UCLA from sweep
LEAH ETLING, NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER













April 20, 2006 8:22 AM

LOS ANGELES -- The UCSB men's volleyball team captured a game from UCLA for the first time this season but fell in four in the opening round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs at Pauley Pavilion.

UCSB concluded its season as the No. 8 seed in the conference. UCLA, the No. 7 seed, advances to the second round against No. 2 seed Hawaii on Saturday.

Game scores were 28-30, 31-29, 30-23 and 30-15.

The Gauchos came out strong in Game 1, leading the entire match and looking nothing like a team that had been swept by UCLA three times in the 2006 season.

"I thought we played an excellent two games. If games went two out of three, we might have been there," UCSB coach Ken Preston said. "But Game 2 was a killer."

In Game 1, UCSB hit .324. In both games, the Gauchos blocked well, putting up 14 team blocks in the first two games to UCLA's two. UCSB had struggled with UCLA's block in its previous meetings, but this time it was the other way around.

"We were completely out of rhythm in the first two games," UCLA coach Al Scates said.

The return of UCLA setter Dennis Gonzalez to the lineup in Game 2 seemed to buoy the Bruins considerably. Gonzalez was injured in March and hasn't played regularly since.

Also with an injury, Derek Otte was in at opposite for UCSB in Game 1. But he couldn't make it through the match, despite an effort to play conservatively.

UCSB made two errors in the final stretch of the second game that helped UCLA get the win.

"We probably didn't believe that we could win," Preston said. "We started making hitting errors, and it went downhill from there."

In Games 3 and 4, UCSB couldn't maintain its consistency in hitting or at the net, and the Bruins fed off the momentum of their slanderous yet supportive crowd. The Bruins improved their hitting percentage from .167 in Game 2 to .583 in Game 4.

The Gauchos were led by Aaron Richman. The junior outside hitter from Solvang had 17 kills.


"He really bounced back after a horrendous match last weekend (against Irvine), and from having a hard time (at Pauley) earlier this year," Preston said.

Richman averaged just more than three points per game on the season and just less than three kills per game for the year.

Preston credited junior Bryan Berman and freshman Ben Brockman for their passing efforts. Berman concludes the season averaging three kills per game, and he had eight on Wednesday.

Junior middle blocker Theo Brunner, under great defensive pressure by the Bruins, had 10 kills. He hit .433 on the season, sixth best in the MPSF.

UCLA's Nick Sheftic, a Bishop Diego graduate, had eight kills for the Bruins. Steve Klosterman led the team with 22.

UCSB concludes the season at 13-16 overall. UCLA is now 21-12 and has won nine straight matches.

The Gauchos lose only two seniors, Dane Jensen and Jared Godinez, from this year's team. They will return several redshirt players, add a new opposite recruit, and return All-American Evan Patak, who was academically ineligible for the last few games of the season.

But Preston said the team needs to mature over the summer to ensure a better performance next year.

"We've got to become better to catch up to (No. 1 seed) UC Irvine and these other programs," said Preston, who concludes his 28th year coaching at UCSB. "I don't think our volleyball IQ on this team is very high. We need to seek that out."

e-mail: [e-mail]

[StuffU]

swingaway said:

"We probably didn't believe that we could win," Preston said. "We started making hitting errors, and it went downhill from there."


"We've got to become better to catch up to (No. 1 seed) UC Irvine and these other programs," said Preston, who concludes his 28th year coaching at UCSB. "I don't think our volleyball IQ on this team is very high. We need to seek that out."

e-mail: [e-mail]

Geez, this coach needs to just say "no comment", because everytime he opens his mouth, it sounds like an absolute betrayal of his team. As the coach, he seems to take ZERO responsibility. "I don't think our volleyball IQ on this team is very high." What the hell is wrong with him?!!

[mikesmith]

I don't think that anyone thought that UCSB had a chance. Not without Patak.