UCLA
at Hawaii (MPSF Quarterfinals)
Streaking Bruins Beat Hawaii on the Road
April 23, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
April 23, 2006
HONOLULU-- - Seventh-ranked UCLA upset No. 2 Hawai'i in four games in the MPSF quarterfinals Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Bruins advance to Thursday's MPSF Semifinals against Pepperdine, which swept Cal State Northridge in Malibu.
The Bruins won 18-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-24 in two hours and eight minutes before 5,663 fans. UCLA (22-12) won its 10th straight match and snapped Hawai'i's 19-match winning streak. The Warriors (23-5) still have an outside chance to earn an at-large berth into the NCAA Championship at Penn State, May 4 & 6.
The Bruins stole this victory as nearly 6,000 witnesses watched in disbelief. After the Warriors raced out to a 4-0 lead in Game 1 and the Bruins burned a timeout, Hawai'i skipped to a 7-1 lead and never looked back. UH hit .438 with 18 kills for this game, while the Bruins floundered at -.034 with eight kills. UCLA's hottest hitter during the streak, junior Steve Klosterman, sported a line of 0-5-7 after the first game.
"I told the boys they couldn't play any worse than they just did (in Game 1)," said UCLA Head Coach Al Scates when asked what he said to his team in the huddle between Games 1 & 2. "They did a great job of putting it (Game 1) behind them and stepping up."
Game 2 was a different story and a momentum changer. The Bruins still struggled, hitting just .194 with eight errors and 14 kills, but Hawai'i's play fell off the cliff. UH committed eight service errors, including four in the first six UCLA points. The Warriors began serving conservatively, which allowed the Bruins to keep the score close. Hawaii held a 14-13 lead when Klosterman recorded his first kill of the night to tie the score. He managed to put down his next four attempts and the Bruins got untracked. Meanwhile, Hawaii began making mistakes by playing carefully and committing unforced errors.
"We under-minded ourselves," said UH Head Coach Mike Wilton.
A 10-minute break between Games 2 & 3 only served to ice the Warriors. Three straight points by the Bruins early in the third game gave the visitors the cushion they needed to watch the Warriors self-destruct. And implode they did. With their serving already suspect, UH's block began to crack and their hitters began forcing shots. The Bruins held a 15-10 lead at the TV timeout and held an 18-11 advantage when UH used its first timeout. An out of rotation call exemplified Hawaii's troubles and gave UCLA a six-point margin which it increased to eight to win Game 3, 30-22.
The shift in momentum completed, all that remained was for the Bruins to snatch Game 4. And they did with the help of some timely mistakes from the Warriors.
At the TV break, the Bruins led 15-11 and were still struggling, hitting just .250. Hawai'i closed the gap to 18-17 and the Bruins called timeout. Junior Paul George found a seam to give the Bruins a two-point margin, but Hawaii rallied to tie the score at 19-19. George willed another kill through the block and UH setter Brian Beckwith cost his team a point with a bad set. George then stuffed UH's Lauri Hakala and the Bruins held a 22-19 advantage. But the Warriors rallied again to tie the game at 23-23 on a kill by senior Matt Bender and two UCLA hitting errors. The Bruins scored four of the next five points as senior Damien Scott tooled the block twice and UH gave away two points on a net violation and Dio Dante's hitting error. Hawaii used its second timeout, but the Bruins won the match with a 3-0 run down the stretch.
Four UCLA players recorded double-digit kills, led by Klosterman and senior Nick Scheftic with 14. George added 11 (.350) and Russell 10 (.471). George also added 11 digs and sophomore Tony Ker recorded a match-high 18 digs.
Hakala led the Warriors with 17 kills (.324), followed by senior Jose Delgado's 15.
UCLA meets Pepperdine on Thursday, Apr. 27 at 5:00 p.m. at UC Irvine's Bren Center. Top-ranked UC Irvine hosts Long Beach State in the other semifinal, scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
