It was a fitting end as Pepperdine’s Paul Carroll smashed down a kill, ending the Bruins’ title hopes Friday night in Pauley Pavilion.
The fourth-seeded Bruins had no answer for Carroll, arguably the nation’s top player, as they fell at home to the fifth-seeded Waves 27-30, 30-20, 21-30, 28-30.
After a close loss in the first game and an easy win in the second, the Bruins got off to a weak start in the third game, at one point trailing by as many as 12 points.
The Bruins did manage to get a run going late in the third game after coach Al Scates made three substitutions.
“When the substitutes came in, they really helped us turn things around in game three,” Scates said. “In game four, it was going right down to the end.”
After the Bruins lost in front of a home crowd of 1,055, four-year starter Tony Ker, playing in the final game of his UCLA career, remained positive.
“My team ““ I think they all played great,” Ker said. “It was a pleasure playing with all of them.”
Among Ker’s teammates, sophomore outside hitter Garrett Muagututia played what Scates called “one of his best matches of the year.”
Muagututia put up 13 kills and a quality .346 clip along with five blocks, but his most impressive statistics were in serve receptions and digging.
The Waves served to Muagututia 43 times out of 109 total serves, and Muagututia returned 41 of those serves. He also made 13 digs, second highest in the game to Ker.
The Bruins had to play most of the game without redshirt junior quick hitter D.J. Stromath, who went down early in the first game with an ankle sprain.
Scates left Stromath in for a few points but acknowledged that Stromath could not jump as quickly or even serve with the same power.
“We missed D.J.’s serving … and just his seniority and leadership out on the court,” Ker said. “He’s the most reliable guy on our team.”
True freshman Wes Dunlap replaced Stromath.
“Wes came in and did a great job,” Ker said. “I was really happy with how he did, and he is going to be a great player in the next few years.”
Junior outside hitter Sean O’Malley also put up big numbers late. In the fourth game, when the Bruins made a run late to get the score within one, 27-28, O’Malley drove in seven kills and no errors on 14 swings for a .500 clip.
Redshirt junior quick hitter Jamie Diefenbach and junior opposite Ryan Ratelle posted 12 kills each.
But the Bruins’ strong offense ended up being no match for Pepperdine’s Carroll, an opposite hitter, and its true-freshman outside hitter Cory Riecks. Carroll slammed 29 kills, and Riecks had 22.
Despite Carroll’s impressive numbers, Scates still applauded UCLA’s defense.
“We did a nice job on Carroll,” Scates said. “This is a guy who hits (.426), which is unheard of, and we held him to .302.”
The Bruins’ defense held the rest of Pepperdine’s squad to a .169 clip and out-blocked the Waves 16-13. But with much of the blocking coming from the right side and middle, Riecks was left hitting at Ratelle, who only put up two blocks in the match.
“What it came down to: Our left-side blocking was not as good as our left-side hitting,” Scates said. “So Cory Riecks got off.”
Scates brought in redshirt sophomore Jeff Woodley at opposite to match up with Riecks. Woodley played about half as much as Ratelle but also put up two blocks on Riecks.
“Unfortunately Ratelle hits very good out of the backcourt, and I needed Ratelle to come back in,” Scates said.
“To make a run next year, we are going to have to improve our left-side blocking.”