MALIBU “”mdash; Midway through Game 3 in the Bruins’ match
at Pepperdine on Saturday, outside hitter Jonathan Acosta
accidentally hit libero Tony Ker in the eye, causing it to
bleed.
Yet despite the cut and dizziness, coach Al Scates brought Ker
back in after a short break.
The match was that important.
But even with all the sweat, blood and effort that the Bruins
gave, it simply was not enough.
In an epic showdown between the top-ranked UCLA men’s
volleyball team and second-ranked Pepperdine, the Bruins lost
30-28, 34-36, 26-30, 30-27, 13-15 in front of 2,450 fans at
Firestone Fieldhouse.
The closest match between No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the rally
scoring era had enormous postseason implications, as the Waves now
have the edge for home-court advantage in the conference
playoffs.
With the loss, the Bruins (18-3, 13-3 Mountain Pacific Sports
Federation) fell 1.5 games behind Pepperdine (14-1, 14-1) in the
conference standings.
“I don’t know at this point who is going to beat
them,” UCLA coach Al Scates said. “It’s likely
that they are going to be playing here for the playoffs. They might
lose one more, but I don’t see them losing two.”
“I think this loss means that our hopes for having
home-court advantage for the playoffs are gone.”
Nevertheless, the senior opposite hitter Allan Vince isn’t
worried about the position the Bruins are in as the postseason
nears.
“We are a better team because we have more of a strive to
win, and we’ll be ready next time,” he said.
“We’re not worried. They should be worried because we
almost beat them at their place.”
Against the Waves, the game plan was simple. Stop Sean
Rooney.
However, that proved to be much easier said than done.
The three-time All-American torched the Bruins for 30 kills
(.439), two aces, four blocks and eight digs in leading the Waves
to victory. In the decisive Game 5, he notched six kills.
“Rooney was finding holes and getting the ball down
well,” senior Kris Kraushaar said. “We knew he was
going to get the majority of the sets, but our defense wasn’t
digging around the block. He would get past the block, and then we
couldn’t stop him, which is something we need to work
on.”
Although the Bruins prepared to face Rooney, averaging 5.14
kills per game, their efforts seemed fruitless as he slammed kills
all over the court.
“The biggest reason we lost is that the guy who got 57
sets hit over .400,” Scates said. “That’s, in
fact, the only reason. He’s the best hitter in the country.
We know he’s good; there were no surprises. There’s
never any surprises with Pepperdine.”
“We couldn’t stop him because when he was coming
inside, he was hitting the ball under our middle blockers’
arms. They were going so high, so he penetrated beneath them.
That’s something we’re definitely going to work on in
practice.”
The Bruins countered Rooney with strong play of their own, as
senior Paul Johnson hit 17 kills (.536) while senior Jonathan
Acosta added 14 of his own. However, UCLA got only seven total
blocks compared to Pepperdine’s 15. While it was Rooney who
had the biggest impact in the game, teammate John Parfitt also hurt
the Bruins, picking up 25 kills, including the match-winner.