UCLA Wins 3-1

[cyberVBmidwest]

UCLA Wins 3-1

[Alohano]

Realllllyyyyyy quiet on the board since UCLA won!

[KO7]

Maybe since UCLA won the match against Hawaii.

It's been quiet on the boards all day.

[beachman]

alohano said:

Realllllyyyyyy quiet on the board since UCLA won!

Not much to say really except that UCLA played a better match than Long Beach State! Too many errors and too many missed opportunities.....damn!

[Deleted]

Penn State and UCLA back in the final four AGAIN, YAWN.

[mikesmith]

The bottom line is, Dennis Gonzales was back from injury.

Steve Klosterman is finally able to swing and serve hard.

The team needed time to gel together.

Again, no one wants to play UCLA in the playoffs.

It was great to see all of the players embracing after the win. It wasn't the UCLA "business as usual" stroll that I've seen for years. I even saw the players hugging Coach Scates.

Great win Bruins!

Go UCLA!

[Will Rogers Beach]

Great win indeed! Sweet victory! ;D

[Will Rogers Beach]

From the LB website:

www.longbeachstate.com/vol/mvol/REL06/gamemvol042906.htm

Box Score - www.longbeachstate.com/vol/mvol/BOX06/MPSF03.htm


49ers Fall to UCLA in MPSF Final

IRVINE, CA-- The UCLA Bruins advanced to the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship after its four-game victory over Long Beach State on Saturday night from the Bren Center. Game scores were 24-30, 30-28, 30-23, 30-24.

Long Beach State ends its season at 23-10, while UCLA moves on with a 24-12 record.

Norm Hutton recorded a career-high 27 kills and eight digs in the loss, while senior Robert Tarr added 12 kills. This was also the final match for seniors Tyler Hildebrand (48 assists, two kills), and Duncan Budinger (five kills, two blocks). Teddy Liles had seven kills and hit .778 (7-0-9). The 49ers hit .300 in the match and recorded just 5.0 team blocks. Long Beach also had 20 service errors.

The Bruins (MPSF Champions) got a balanced attack from Steve Klosterman (16 kills), Paul George (16 kills), and Nick Scheftic (13 kills). UCLA recorded 10 service aces and hit .366 (61-16-123) on the evening. The Bruins finished with 7.0 blocks and won despite recording 27 service errors.

"I wasn't surprised how the teams played tonight," said 49er Head Coach Alan Knipe. "Both teams came out and had a lot of energy. These were two teams that finished the season real strong. Give them credit. They played aggressively. Even when they made mistakes they played aggressive."

The 49ers came out strong winning game one 30-24 as Long Beach hit .348 (12-4-23) compared to just .147 (13-8-34) for the Bruins. Hutton and Tarr both had four kills and Long Beach out-dug the Bruins 13-to-7. UCLA also helped the 49er cause by committing seven service errors. Game two the Bruins broke away from a 25-25 tie to win 30-28 and tie the match at one game apiece. UCLA hit .438 (16-2-32) in the game as George, Scheftic and Klosterman all had five kills in the game. Hutton had nine kills for Long Beach State.

UCLA only committed six attack errors in games three and four combined and hit better than .430 in those sets. In the fourth, and final game, UCLA unlocked an 18-18 tie to take a 20-18 lead, before the 49ers called timeout. The Bruins did not let LBSU back in the frame the rest of the way to close out The Beach, 30-23.

[roy]

This is what UCLA does. I got a bit of criticism talking about how I was a bit worried with UCLA in Hawaii's draw and that the loss for Hawaii was a bit of the UCLA mystique. Well, this is what UCLA is good at. They peak at the end of the season when they need to get into the Final Four. They were the fourth seed in 2001 when they last won a title. But they got hot at the right time and ended up winning the national title.

[Mac]

uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-volley/recaps/043006aab.html

Bruins Beat Long Beach State for MPSF Title
UCLA Advances to NCAA Championship



April 29, 2006

Box Score: uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-volley/stats/2005-2006/lbs-4.html

Seventh-seeded UCLA completed its remarkable run through the MPSF Tournament by defeating Long Beach State in four games Saturday to advance to the NCAA Championship at Penn State next week.

The Bruins won 24-30, 30-28, 30-23, 30-24 in two hours in front of 2,800 fans at UC Irvine's Bren Center. The victory was UCLA's 12th straight and raised its record to 24-12. The Beach fell to 23-10 and saw its six-match winning streak snapped.

With the victory, UCLA became the first team to win four matches in the MPSF Tournament and advance to the NCAA Championship. The Bruins are the lowest seeded team in MPSF history to win the conference's automatic berth.

Like their triumphs against UC Santa Barbara in the first round and vs. Hawaii in the quarterfinals, the Bruins fell in Game 1. Long beach State carried its momentum from Thursday's semifinal victory into to the finals and hit .348 on 12 kills, three aces and two total blocks. The Bruins, conversely, hit just .147 and recorded no blocks.

The Beach broke open a close game early, taking an 11-7 lead on a pair of Paul Lotman aces. The Bruins scored two straight points before the 49ers mounted a 7-1 run, highlighted by two kills from Norm Hutton and kills by Teddy Liles and Robert Tarr. Down 18-10, the Bruins had used both timeouts and The Beach cruised to a six-point margin.

"We didn't play very well in the first game, but that's not unusual," said Head Coach Al Scates. "We put it out of our heads and stepped it up."

In Game 2, the Bruins turned up the heat and the 49ers began to wilt. Although Long Beach State hit .393, the Bruins sizzled at .438 and improved their passing and blocking. In particular, UCLA's Steve Klosterman recorded five kills and a block assist.

The score remained close and the 49ers held a 25-24 advantage when the Bruins' Paul George and David Russell blocked Tarr's attempt after a long rally. George, after serving several hard serves, served a floater for an ace and the Bruins took a one-point lead. After Long Beach State timeout, the Bruins got another point off a bad set by the 49ers. The teams traded service errors, LBS got a kill from Norm Hutton, then gave it back with another service error. Another Hutton kill made it 29-28, but UCLA's Klosterman hammered the game-winner down the line.

"We didn't start playing Bruin volleyball until the third game," said George, who slammed four of his 16 kills in this game.

In Game 3, the Bruins hit .433 and served three aces. More importantly, they recorded 4.0 blocks and held the 49ers to a hitting percentage of .300. They held leads of 12-6 and 20-15 before The Beach rallied to two at 20-18 after Russell was called for interference. A pair of dinks by UCLA setter Dennis Gonzalez raised the Bruins' lead to four. At 26-23, UCLA scored the final four points to take a 2-1 lead.

UCLA held a 16-12 lead in Game 4 before The Beach climbed back into it. The 49ers blocked George twice, got an ace from Lotman and a kill from Duncan Budinger to tie the score at 16-16. The teams traded points until the Bruins went on a 4-0 run and took a 24-20 lead. The Beach rallied to within two at 25-23. The Bruins clinched the match with a 5-1 run, highlighted by Klosterman's two kills and an ace for the final point.

George and Klosterman led the Bruins with 16 kills apiece, followed by 13 from Scheftic, who hit .524. Gonzalez recorded 48 set assists and four kills, and sophomore libero Tony Ker recorded nine digs.

Seedings, pairings and times for the NCAA Championship, which begins on May 4, will be announced Sunday on ESPN News.

[Will Rogers Beach]

uclabruins.cstv.com/sports/m-volley/spec-rel/042906aab.html

Highlights from Thursday's Volleyball Victory

Watch free video from UCLA's victory over Pepperdine.

Here are highlights and interviews from Thursday night's men's volleyball victory over Pepperdine in the MPSF semifinals, courtesy of Bruin 29 reporters Kate Jones and Courtney Bowman.

[robonthemic]

Maybe this goes without saying, because IT IS AL SCATES, but the coaching and team prep needs to be mentioned as well as the intangibles of Scott & Kerr. Also, Scheftic had timely, momentum shifting kills during he match. After game 2, LB players seemed rattled and dug deep to get it together, but UCLA found a way to stop them amidst a hot Norm Hutton. The LB crowd tried to get the team back into it but UCLA always answered back-- with precision timing. Whenever LB got close or tied it up, UCLA would have a 2-3 point run, usually capped off with a Paul George kill. Bruins have got their game-on right now and they are going to be tough to stop at the NCAA Championships, no matter who crosses their path!

[killmasta]

Hutton almost singlehandedly kept LB in the match with his hitting.

[Mac]

Your 2006 MPSF Champions

[Will Rogers Beach]

I'm making an assumption that most of the players are growing their beards (at least, those who are able to grow a beard) and not shaving until after Saturday. Is that a safe assumption?

I wonder if they've changed underwears since March 17, 2006 (the start of the 12 match winning streak). LOL!