Bruins stampede Matadors
Intimidation factor high as UCLA sweeps Northridge
By Ruben Gutierrez
Daily Bruin Staff
Prior to Tuesday’s volleyball match at Cal State Northridge,
UCLA head coach Al Scates said that his squad would not be
intimidated by a raucous Northridge crowd. At the Matadome, the No.
2 Bruins instead played the role of intimidator, especially at net
where UCLA outblocked Northridge 13-7 en route to a 15-2, 15-12,
15-9 sweep.
"We won, and that is the main thing," Scates said. "Also, our
blocking has improved since Hawaii. I thought our blocking was the
best that it has been and that carried us."
UCLA (4-1 overall, 1-0 Mountain Sports Pacific Federation)
dominated the first game from the opening whistle. After falling
behind 5-0, it seemed the Matadors (3-3, 2-1 MPSF) had finally
secured a sideout to end a UCLA run. Instead, the ball deflected
high off of a Bruin defender, struck a basketball backboard and
stayed in play. UCLA scored on the exchange and coasted the rest of
the way. In a preview of what was in store for CSUN, sophomore
quick hitter Tom Stillwell scored a sideout and UCLA’s last two
points in the first game, a 15-2 goring of the Matadors.
Stillwell had a match-high eight kills for UCLA, but his biggest
contribution came on the defensive side of the net, where he
recorded eight digs and nine block assists, more than the entire
CSUN squad combined.
"This is the best I’ve seen Tom block, in practice, in a match
situation, any time," Scates said. "He has a great vertical jump.
From a standing jump, he gets his head well over the net every
time. He often gets hit in the face with the ball if he makes the
wrong move. He can get armpits over every time."
The next two games were closer as Northridge knotted the second
game at eight apiece. The Matadors scored four straight points to
give UCLA a battle at 14-12 before senior swing hitter Brian Wells
put one away to give UCLA a 2-0 lead in the match.
Wells came through again in the final game, sending down a kill
at match point. On the evening, Wells had eight kills for the
Bruins on a .263 attack percentage. Freshman quick hitter Dan
Farmer hit a match-high .417, putting away seven kills in 12
attempts.
Due to injuries, Scates has juggled his lineup in the early
season and elected to go with the group of starters he used
throughout last weekend’s Outrigger Tournament. After Tuesday’s
showing, it appears that any UCLA combination will be hard to
stop.
"I just want to win," Stillwell said. "As long as we win, we’re
happy with any combination."
FRED HE/Daily Bruin
Sophomore Tom Stillwell had a match-high eight kills
Tuesday.
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