Monday, 4/28/97 Bruins swept off their feet UCLA’s postseason
bid upset by surprise Cardinal win
By Vytas Mazeika Daily Bruin Contributor Strange things have
happened this season for the UCLA men’s volleyball team, but
nothing like this. The Bruins (23-4) were coming off arguably their
best match of the season Thursday against UC Santa Barbara in the
semis of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation playoffs. But
apparently no one told Stanford (25-3), and the Cardinal executed
its game plan to perfection, demolishing the top-ranked Bruins in
three games. And while Stanford takes the automatic bid to the NCAA
Final Four, UCLA’s postseason plans are suddenly on hold. The
Bruins’ chances of going to the Final Four with an at-large bid are
good, but still up in the air. The Bruins went in enjoying the
comfort of an 18-match winning streak and home-court advantage. But
Stanford, ranked No. 1 for the early part of the season, took
control early and never really let down. Cardinal Olympian Mike
Lambert seemed to take the pressure onto his shoulders and
eventually led his team to victory. "Lambert was very good tonight
and numbers do not tell the whole story," Stanford coach Ruben
Nieves said. "The attitude he brought to the court, the leadership,
the aggressiveness; he was only going to allow one result tonight."
Paul Nihipali, obviously disappointed, walked off the court with
his head down. The Bruin senior had played his final match at
Pauley Pavilion and could barely believe how his team lost the
second game 15-2. "It was a huge win," Cardinal senior setter
Stewart Chong said. "When we came out here in March I considered it
the biggest match of my career – and it wasn’t even the playoffs.
And I didn’t win then, so I was proud I was here to do it tonight."
The Bruin players, who traditionally stay on the court for postgame
interviews, had a meeting with the coaches after the game and left
without comment. Bruin head coach Al Scates spoke about the
meeting. "Basically I just told them to control their emotions,"
Scates said. "It was a hard loss. By the time they left I wanted
them to be calmed down." Stanford outhit UCLA by a hitting
percentage of .351 to .164. In Game 2, the discrepancy in hitting
percentage was .577 to .094. Lambert led the way for the Cardinal
by tallying a game high 19 kills while Nihipali put up 14, making
him the only Bruin in double figures. But the more telling
statistics were the 8-1 advantage Stanford held in service aces and
the fact that the Cardinal outdug the Bruins 42-27. Stanford’s
tough jump serves and the Bruins telegraphing their passing allowed
the Cardinal blockers to amass enough blocks to build a dream
house. "I thought the best part of our match tonight was our
blocking defense," Nieves said. "Nihipali got off to a pretty good
start, but nobody else did. And then when they started going to
Nihipali we were all over it. His numbers just went down as the
match went on." Scates had a much more simple explanation for why
Stanford dominated the Bruins – lack of preparation. "We were just
fooled on the floor," Scates said. "They ran a very varied offense
and we just weren’t prepared for it. We prepared for Santa Barbara
to get into the Final Four. That is the one we felt we had to win."
Chances are that UCLA will still reach the Final Four this upcoming
weekend by receiving the at-large bid. But a Princeton team with
only two losses could overtake UCLA, with the selection committee
making its decision on Monday. UCLA’s hopes to be selected ride on
its difficult schedule. On the other hand, the Cardinal
accomplished what they wanted by beating UCLA for the first time
since 1993 and proving that the juggernaut known as the UCLA men’s
volleyball team is human and capable of losing. "We wanted to be
league champions," Nieves said. "We wanted to beat UCLA … These
guys have a lot of pride. We want to win every single time, and if
it means playing UCLA in (the Final Four this week) so be it."
JUSTIN WARREN/Daily Bruin Senior Paul Nihipali (l.) and the Bruins
couldn’t block Stanford’s path to the MPSF Championship. Stanford
def. UCLA 15-11, 15-2, 15-10 Men’s Volleyball