University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Tackle Warriors in Men's Volleyball League Championship
April 27, 2001
The coveted automatic berth into the 2001 NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships, scheduled for May 3 & 5 at the Long Beach Pyramid, will be at stake Saturday night when third-seeded UCLA meets fourth-seeded Hawaii in the MPSF championship match at Smith Fieldhouse in Provo, UT.
First serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PDT) and the match will be carried live on uclabruins.com. Lou Riggs and Tony Luftman will call the action from courtside.
The Bruins (22-7) earned a shot at their second straight league title by defeating Long Beach State, 3-2, on Thursday night.
The Warriors (19-6) handed top-seeded BYU a 3-1 setback on the latter's home court in the tournament's second semifinal.
Against Long Beach State, the Bruins got 22 kills off the bench from junior Matt Komer. Senior All-American Adam Naeve spiked 12 kills and recorded five blocks as the Bruins controlled the net by out-blocking the 49ers, 18.5-16.5. Sophomore Scott Morrow led UCLA with 12 total blocks.
Hawaii avenged a pair of losses two weeks ago to BYU by beating the Cougars Thursday at their own game: controlling the net. The Warriors out-blocked the Cougars, 19-16, and limited the nation's top ranked offense to an attack percentage of .208. The Warriors also out-served the Cougars, 4-0.
In the series between the two teams this season, the Bruins have defeated the Warriors in two out of three matches, including a 3-1 victory on Mar. 30. Hawaii snapped a 13-match losing streak to UCLA at Pauley Pavilion with a five-game victory on Mar. 29. UCLA won its fourth straight Outrigger Hotels Invitational crown on Jan. 19 by outlasting Hawaii, 3-2.