Order restored: Bruins sweep Penn State
Volleyball gains 15th title, avenges last season’s
title loss to PSU with 15-3, 15-8, 15-10 victory
By Eric Branch
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
SPRINGFIELD, Mass — Early Saturday morning, before UCLA’s NCAA
volleyball final with Penn State, Bruin swing hitter Kevin Wong
thought an aberration had become a yearly tradition.
After enduring the memory of last season’s shocking NCAA final
loss to Penn State for a year, Wong woke up thinking the nightmare
had reoccurred.
"I was real stressed out Saturday morning," Wong said. "I had a
nightmare that we lost. I woke up and saw (teammate John) Speraw
and that was just the best thing I ever saw."
However, in the end, the No. 1 Bruins exchanged last year’s
nightmare for a fairy tale ending, cruising to 15-3, 15-8, 15-10
victory over No. 3 Penn State before 4,376 at the Springfield Civic
Center to gain their 15th national title.
The Bruins (31-1) and their four graduating seniors did not
merely bring the title back to Westwood, they took it by force. On
the night UCLA outhit (.393 to .231), outblocked (14 to eight) and
outdug (44 to 31) No. 3 Penn State (27-4), the domination had Penn
State head coach Mark Pavlik checking for carnage.
"When you let a train like the UCLA Bruins catch up with you,
you don’t get up until you see the license plate," Pavlik said.
Perhaps releasing a year’s worth of pent up frustrations, the
Bruin locomotive began rolling over the Nittany Lions early. UCLA
jumped out to a 4-0 first-game lead behind the jump serve of Wong.
Nine of the Bruin’s first-game points came off of Wong’s
jumper.
"They came out sky high and we couldn’t respond to their
emotion," Pavlik said.
As for Wong, the senior chose an opportune night to break out of
a season-long hitting slump. Wong tied teammate Jeff Nygaard with
15 kills after almost being benched during Friday night’s semifinal
match with Ball State, which UCLA won 15-12, 15-9, 15-10.
"This team can survive without me hitting well because we have
so many great hitters," Wong said. "But it was nice to come up big
in my final match. I was pretty fired up."
Wong wasn’t alone in saving some of his best for last. Speraw,
who didn’t start until his fifth year, posted 11 kills (match-high
.625 hitting percentage), eight blocks and seven digs. On several
occasions the senior quick hitter blanketed PSU go-to hitter Ivan
Contreras (match-high 20 kills) with solo roofs.
"It was a sweet way to end my career," Speraw said. "I’ve always
known what my role is here. It just happened tonight that I got my
share of stuffs and hit really well."
Despite the career performances, UCLA found themselves down 6-2
in the second game as the Nittany Lion block accounted for three of
their points. However, a balanced Bruin offensive attack shifted
the momentum again.
Wong and Nygaard recorded seven kills apiece while sophomore
opposite Paul Nihipali and Speraw chipped in six apiece as UCLA
took 13 of the next 15 points.
"It was great because this was one of the few times this season
everyone had a great match," senior captain Erik Sullivan (nine
kills, 10 digs) said. "Everyone came together at the right
time."
After the Bruins jumped out to a 13-7 third-game lead, the
Nittany Lions staved off elimination as two hitting errors and a
lift call on UCLA closed the gap to 13-10. For some of the Bruins,
the Penn State run was vaguely familiar to the beginning of their
comeback in ’94.
"When they got to 10 that thought might have crept into the very
back of my mind," Nihipali said. "But I did my best to push it away
and concentrate on getting a sideout."
After a sideout, Wong and Speraw roofed Contreras to bring up
game point. Following an exchange of sideouts, Wong blasted a
cross-court kill through the Penn State defense to secure the
Bruin’s second national championship in three years and relieve
head coach Al Scates of a burden.
"I felt a little pressure this year because these guys are so
good," Scates said. "I felt if we lost this year it would be my
fault. This was a great team."
Scates and the rest of the Bruins can now rest easy. The
nightmare is not recurring.
* * *
Nygaard, the NCAA Player of the Year, was named Tournament Most
Outstanding Player. He totaled 31 kills, 21 digs and 12 blocks in
the two games. Nygaard was joined on the all-tournament team by
Speraw (18 kills, 12 blocks and 12 digs) and junior setter Stein
Metzger, who totaled 109 assists and was instrumental in leading
the Bruin offense.