Friday, January 10, 1997
M. VOLLEYBALL:
With four new players in tow, confident team enters Santa
Barbara tournamentBy Jennifer Kollenborn
Daily Bruin Contributor
The title defense begins today.
"We are contending for an NCAA championship," UCLA head coach Al
Scates said. Scates’ confidence stems from his past 16 NCAA
titles.
The Bruins spring forth into the 1997 season this weekend at the
33rd Annual U.C. Santa Barbara/Elephant and Restaurant Collegiate
Invitational.
UCLA enters the tournament equipped with three returners. senior
Paul Nihipali, junior Tom Stillwell and sophomore Fred Robins, the
lone veterans on what will be a young Bruin squad.
Four new players invigorate the lineup including 6-foot-10-inch
freshman Adam Naeve and freshman Brandon Taliaferro. Sophomore
transfer Andor Gyulai from Glenwood, South Africa, and freshman
Matt Davis are competing for the last spot.
The tournament begins on Friday at Santa Barbara and hosts 24
teams.
Teams are divided into six groups, with the top two teams of
each group advancing. Those twelve teams that advance are then
divided into two pools, with the winners of Pool I and II facing
off in the championship while the second-place teams play for third
and fourth place.
UCLA is the top seed in Group C. The other teams featured in
UCLA’s group are Loyola Marymount, Colorado and UC Santa Cruz.
In series records, UCLA leads 51-0 vs. LMU, 9-0 vs. UC Santa
Cruz, and will play Colorado for the first time.
The teams in the other five groups include: Group A Â UC
Santa Barbara, La Verne, Arizona and Santa Clara; Group B Â
Stanford, UC Irvine, Sacramento State and Westmont; Group D Â
Calgary, Cal State Northridge, California and Cal Poly San Luis
Obispo; Group E Â Pacific, USC and Arizona State; Group F
 BYU, UC San Diego and UC Davis.
JON FERREY
Paul Nihipali hopes to spike UCLA to No. 1.