Wednesday, April 2, 1997
BAHMAN FARAHDEL
Fred Robbins and UCLA hope to continue the Bruins’ mastery over
Loyola Marymount.
M. VOLLEYBALL:
The Bruins … have a lot of momentum heading into
the match.
Dominance of unheralded LMU has UCLA looking ahead to
Pepperdine
By Jennifer Kollenborn
Daily Bruin Contributor
Coming off a huge win over BYU, the Bruins hope their winning
mentality will give them an easy victory over Loyola Marymount
today.
No. 1 UCLA (16-3 overall, 12-2 Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation) hosts the unranked Lions (5-12, 4-11) at 7 p.m. in
Pauley Pavilion. The Bruins lead the series against the Lions,
53-0.
Earlier in the season, the Bruins defeated Loyola Marymount 3-1
in a short match.
UCLA looks to contain LMU’s sophomore middle blocker Robert
Schildts. Schildts leads the Lions in attack percentage at .337 and
was a member of the 1994 USA Junior National team.
"We are going to focus on Robert Schildts," UCLA head coach Al
Scates said.
Yet, Schildts’ hitting percentage appears low when compared to
that of UCLA’s quick hitter Tom Stillwell, who hit a team high of
.444 in the 1996 season.
The Bruins hold not only the advantage in athletic talent
against LMU, but they also have a lot of momentum heading into the
match. UCLA has only lost two conference matches this year: one to
UC Santa Barbara and the second against Pepperdine. Since the
Bruins’ loss to Pepperdine (which was at the Waves’ court in
Malibu), UCLA has won 11 league matches in a row.
Since Feb. 19, when UCLA swept rival USC 3-1 to give Al Scates
his 900th victory, the Bruins have seemingly proved themselves
worthy of a spot in the MPSF finals.
However, the match against LMU is not the Bruins’ top concern
this week. UCLA will focus on getting back into top playing shape
after taking a break over finals week.
"We are trying to get our endurance back," Scates said. "We’re
getting back into shape, and trying to gear up for the end of the
week."
This Friday, the Bruins host Pepperdine. The match should prove
challenging for the Bruins, as they look to avenge their earlier
loss to the Waves.