UCLA hangs on to win close match over BYU

  EDWARD LIN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff EDWARD LIN/Daily
Bruin Senior Staff

Junior outside hitter Cameron Mount, left, and
junior setter Rich Nelson celebrate their 3-1
victory over No. 4 BYU Thursday night.

UCLA d. BYU 25-30, 31-29, 30-26, 30-23

By Vytas Mazeika
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Every men’s volleyball fan could sense BYU’s players
were waiting for the fourth game. Their eyes looking at the Pauley
Pavilion floor, slow to look up. Their feet glued down, refusing to
make the next rotation.

Down an insurmountable 27-20, the Cougars managed to close
within three at 28-25. But for every occasional reason to cheer,
disappointment followed. UCLA would hold on to win the third game
and eventually took the match in four, 25-30, 31-29, 30-26,
30-23.

The No. 2 Bruins (14-2, 9-1 MPSF) enacted their sweet revenge on
No. 4 BYU (10-3, 8-3), the team that disposed of them in the 2001
NCAA title game. Round 2 is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m.

“I’m very happy that we won,” junior outside
hitter Cameron Mount said. “We had certainly a revenge factor
coming in against these guys who humiliated us last year in the
finals, frankly.

“But we can serve better. We can block better,”
Mount added. “I’m excited to see Saturday come around
because we have a chance to do better than we did
tonight.”

That doesn’t sound promising for the Cougars, who at one
point were in control Thursday night. Behind 22-20 in the first
game, a strong serve helped BYU take 10 of the next 13 points to
prevail 30-25.

The momentum extended itself to the second game, where the
Cougars held an early 6-2 advantage. But that’s when UCLA
head coach Al Scates made a couple of substitutions.

Freshman outside hitter Gray Garrett, who bloodied his knees
diving on Pauley Pavilion’s unforgiving floor, solidified the
defense (10 digs) and passing.

Sophomore middle blocker Chris Peña added energy and
instant offense.

“We needed his spark; we were dead out there in the first
game,” Scates said. “That team that was on the floor
seemed a little flat to me.”

The Bruins chipped away, tying the game at 14. The score
remained tight all the way until the end. Tied at 29, senior
outside hitter Matt Komer, hampered with shoulder tendinitis,
delivered a perfect cross-court set to Mount, who ripped one of his
14 kills.

On the next point, BYU middle blocker Rafael Paal missed wide
down the line ““ UCLA 31, BYU 29.

“That second game was pivotal for us,” Komer said.
“Progressing on to the third and fourth games with the
momentum helped a lot.”

With junior Scott Morrow (17 kills, .556 hitting percentage) and
Peña solidifying the middle, Komer and Mount were free to roam
outside. The complacency with which the Bruins ended the third game
was nowhere to be seen in the fourth game, as UCLA won 30-23 behind
a .407 hitting clip.

“I’m glad we pulled through on this because we
always have lulls,” Peña said. “The best teams
don’t have lulls and we’re trying to get those out of
our system right now ““ I hope.

“The blood may have been there, but we tried not to smell
it,” Peña added.

BYU, on the other hand, never really had the chance to sniff
success. The Cougars lost all senses but vision. Their eyes
concentrated on Pauley Pavilion’s cold, unforgiving
floor.

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