Tuesday, 4/29/97 Bruins awarded at-large berth, head to Final
Four Players to contend against No. 2 Penn State in semifinals
By Vytas Mazeika Daily Bruin Contributor The UCLA men’s
volleyball team was awarded with the at-large berth into the Final
Four Sunday night by the NCAA selection committee. The Bruins
(23-4) had a chance to clinch an automatic berth in the Mountain
Pacific Sports Federation final on Saturday, but fell victim to a
Stanford sweep. The UCLA coaches and players had to stay near the
phone waiting for confirmation that they had made it to Columbus,
Ohio – site of this year’s Final Four. With veterans like senior
opposite Paul Nihipali and junior middle-blocker Tom Stillwell (who
have always been part of the Final Four) there was more of a sense
of justice than relief in their selection. "I am not glad to be
part of the Final Four," Stillwell said. "I feel we should be part
of the Final Four. So (being selected) is not something (that I am
relieved about). I feel we are the best team out there." The
semifinal matches will take place Thursday, May 1. The third-seeded
Bruins will face off against No. 2 Penn State (29-1) at 8 p.m. The
first semifinal between top-seed Stanford (25-3) and No. 4 Ball
State (27-7) will be at 6 p.m. To win UCLA must now defeat two
opponents who already have defeated them. The Nittany Lions
prevailed over UCLA in the first match of the season, while the
Cardinal – UCLA’s potential opponent in the finals – outplayed the
Bruins Saturday after having lost to UCLA in March. But the
daunting task of rematches against both of these teams does not
scare the Bruins. "I know we can beat both teams," Stillwell said.
"We played Penn State the first game of the season and we were not
polished. We had some problems, and I think we shook a lot of them
off. We have beaten Stanford and we know we can beat them. They
took care of us Saturday night, but we will get them in the
finals." With the season down to only two more matches, the Bruins
seem more focused and determined than at any other point in the
season. They just want to stop waiting and begin playing. "I do not
really care if we play against the top seed or the No. 4 seed,"
Stillwell said. "We just have to win two matches to be NCAA
champs."