Friday, May 1, 1998

The Rematch

The Bruins get another shot
at Pepperdine after beating surprising
Lewis in five games

By Catherine Toth
Special to the Star-Bulletin

On paper, there was no way UCLA could lose.

The Bruins were 16-4 in national title matches entering last night's semifinal against Lewis in the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championships at the Stan Sheriff Center.

And the Bruins have advanced to the final in all 20 of their tournament appearances.

So it shouldn't have been surprising that UCLA defeated the Flyers. But it was.

In only their second appearance in the final four, the Flyers wouldn't give up, taking the Bruins to five games before finally falling, 13-15, 15-9, 15-6, 13-15, 15-11, in the longest semifinal in tournament history (three hours).

By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Lewis' Bryan Johnwick, left, confers with teammate
Guy Nembhard during last night's NCAA semifinal
against UCLA.

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UCLA (27-4) advances to tomorrow's 6:30 p.m. final against Pepperdine in a rematch of last Saturday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation final won by the Waves.

"I was really proud of my players tonight because Lewis was the real thing," UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "What a great sideout team. Rivera (Lewis opposite Victor Rivera) has so many shots. We were putting a solid block up in front of him and he kept finding a way to get by. He really did a good job. I was proud of our guys."

Led by All-American Rivera, who had 12 kills, the Flyers won the first game.

Lewis jumped out to an early lead again in the second game. But with the Bruins down, 9-7, Scates pulled his "secret weapon" off the bench: junior quick hitter Danny Farmer, who recorded six kills with no errors to lead UCLA to a 15-9 victory.

With Farmer, UCLA went on a 17-0 run en route to victories in the second and third games. The Bruins held the Flyers to a .140 hitting percentage in Game 3 while posting a match-high .486. By the end of the set, Farmer had racked up 12 kills in 12 attempts.

"That's his job, that's what we expect from him," said UCLA setter Brandon Taliaferro, who chalked up a school-record and career-high 110 assists. "He's our spark plug, our secret weapon. He brings so much to the game. He's so quick. He hits the ball so hard and brings so much energy. He just fires us up. He fires the crowd up, pumps us all up."

Farmer stayed on the floor the rest of the night and ended with a career-high 26 kills while hitting .629.

By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
UCLA celebrates winning the fifth match against Lewis in
the Men's Volleyball Final Four. At left, Hawaii native #18
Adam Naeve and teammate #9 Evan Thatcher.

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"Danny Farmer came off the bench and did a phenomenal job for them," Lewis head coach Dave Deuser said. "I think we could've won that match, and if UCLA didn't have that kind of depth on their bench, who knows what the outcome of the match would've been."

Farmer, who also earned All-Pac-10 honors as a receiver for the UCLA football team, shrugged off his performance.

"Well, I like coming in. I just like to play," he said. "When I got in there, I did whatever I could. I just wanted to win."

And so did Lewis, which won the fourth game to send the match to rally scoring.

In Game 5, the Flyers were on their way to the upset, leading 8-6.

But UCLA went on a 5-0 run with sophomore quick hitter Adam Naeve and junior opposite Fred Robins putting up huge blocks on Lewis junior middle hitter Guy Nembhard. Rivera, who ended the night with 43 kills, had just two in the fifth game.

"I gave everything I had," said the Midwestern Intercollegiate Player of the Year, who recorded five total blocks and tied his career-high with 19 digs. "They're a great blocking team. They stuff-blocked me a lot."

Box Score

UCLA def. Lewis, 13-15, 15-9, 15-6, 13-15, 15-11

Lewis Flyers (25-9)

		g	k	e	at	pct.	bs	ba	d
McNeil		5	16	6	31	.323	3	3	13
Rivera		5	43	19	82	.293	4	1	19
Quinones	5	26	10	54	.296	2	1	12
Johnwick	5	12	0	24	.500	1	3	9
Deniz		5	10	3	17	.412	2	1	9
Nembhard	5	13	6	30	.233	0	3	11
Casey		4	0	0	0	.000	0	0	2
Totals		5	120	44	238	.319	12	12	75

UCLA Bruins (27-4)

		g	k	e	at	pct.	bs	ba	d
Taliaferro	5	7	1	11	.545	1	6	6
Thatcher	5	21	8	53	.245	1	4	14
Robins		5	18	2	38	.000	2	3	14
Stillwell	2	9	2	18	.000	0	2	4
Naeve		5	34	7	58	.466	0	10	6
Moselle		5	16	9	39	.000	0	3	12
Williams	1	1	0	2	.500	0	0	1
Farmer		4	26	4	35	.629	1	3	5
Jackson	2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Young		1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Totals		5	132	33	254	.390	5	31	62

Aces--LU (1): Nembhard 1. UCLA (6): Naeve 2, Taliaferro 1, Robins 1, Moselle 1, Farmer 1. Assists--LU (118): Deniz 100, McNeil 5, Rivera 4, Quinones 4, Johnwick 3, Nembhard 2. UCLA (124): Taliaferro 110, Robins 5, Naeve 5, Moselle 2, Thatcher 1, Farmer 1.

T--3:00. Officials: Treibitch, Taylor, Carus.