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Saturday, January 29, 2000
Bruins turn back
Hawaii’s upset bid
The 'Bows lose the
By Cindy Luis
deciding fifth game 17-15
Star-BulletinHe stepped on Hawaii setter Stefan Krejci's hand during warmups, then crushed Hawaii's upset hopes last night in the finale of the Outrigger Hotels Invitational men's volleyball tournament.
UCLA's Ed Ratledge broke the tournament record for kills with 43 and broke some 7,050 hearts in the Stan Sheriff Center as the top-ranked Bruins hung on to defeat the No. 8 Rainbows, 6-15, 15-13, 15-12, 12-15, 17-15. The match lasted 3 hours and 16 minutes - the longest in the six years of the event and about five minutes too long for Hawaii.
The Rainbows (4-2) served once to end the marathon at 14-13 but got stuffed on the attempt. The Bruins (8-0) took two swings at it, with Ratledge finally silencing the chorus of boos with his final kill.
It was UCLA's third straight Outrigger title, its fourth overall. The Bruins are 12-2 in five-game matches against Hawaii, 7-1 under the rally-score format.
"This was a real tough one,'' said Rainbow middle Brenton Davis. "We all but beat them and it's frustrating because, for most of the way, we showed we were the better team. "We just didn't finish and that's the real disappointment.''
Davis' personal disappointment was of the serve that literally got away. The match was tied at 15-15 when Davis served his jump float; despite Davis' urging to "drop down, drop down,'' the ball floated out of bounds to give UCLA match point at 16-15.Ratledge, who had a combined 13 kills in two previous matches, buried his final swing of the night to keep UCLA unbeaten.
The 6-foot-8 left-hander said the pre-game contact with Krejci was an accident. Neither the crowd nor Krejci saw it that way, with Hawaii's fans ragging on Ratledge in the style reminiscent of the BowZows of Klum Gym in the mid-1980s.
"The crowd was fabulous tonight,'' said Rainbow coach Wilton. "But Ratledge was great, had a shot for every situation.
"The exciting thing is that we've made quantum leaps since the BYU match (a 3-2 loss last Friday). Hopefully, this will serve as a launching pad. We got these guys (UCLA) coming back for two more times in March (17-18).''
Clay Stanley, who teed off on the Bruins for 50 kills last April, finished with 34 last night. Costas Theocharidis added 26 kills and Torry Tukuafu 16 kills and 12 blocks for the Rainbows, who had five players in double-kill figures and no one hitting below .371.
Taliaferro, the tourney MVP, broke the single-match records for assists (99) and aces (12).
"We definitely had our chances,'' said Rainbow libero Russell Lockwood. "We couldn't take advantage of them.
PENN STATE 3, IPFW 1:
The 10th-ranked Nittany Lions came of age behind two freshman, downing the No. 6 Mastodons, 11-15, 16-14, 15-10, 15-12 for third place.Carlos Guerra had 23 kills and Zeljko Koljesar 16 for Penn State (2-4), which has never finished higher than third in six appearances.
IPFW (2-4) was again led by Hector Soto, who finished with 27 yesterday and 83 for the event.
UCLA def. Hawaii, 6-15, 15-13, 15-12, 12-15, 17-15
Bruins (8-0 overall, 3-0 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Burnham 5 18 7 33 .33 0 7 3 Taliaferro 5 12 1 17 .647 0 6 12 Williams 5 16 5 37 .297 0 4 12 Thatcher 1 2 3 7 -.143 1 0 1 Morrow 5 16 1 24 .625 0 2 4 Komer 4 9 4 26 .192 0 3 8 M. Davis 5 0 0 0 .000 0 0 11 Mount 4 5 6 13 -.077 0 2 1 Ratledge 5 43 10 65 .508 0 6 10 Totals 5 121 37 222 .378 1 34 62Rainbows (4-2 overall, 2-1 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Zimet 3 11 2 20 .450 0 0 7 Krejci 5 4 0 8 .500 1 6 6 Theocharidis 5 26 8 51 .353 1 2 13 B.Davis 5 12 3 23 .391 0 4 2 Stanley 5 34 11 62 .371 0 7 12 Tukuafu 5 16 1 33 .455 0 12 1 Lockwood 5 1 0 1 1.00 0 0 11 Ching 2 5 1 7 .571 0 3 1 Totals 5 109 26 205 .405 2 34 53Aces--UCLA (8): Taliaferro 3, Williams 2, Burnham 1, Komer 1, Ratledge 1. UH (8): Stanley 3, Tukuafu 2, Zimet 1, Krejci 1, Theocharidis 1.Assists--UCLA (112): Taliaferro 99, Williams 7, Burnham 3, Morrow 1, Davis 1, Mount 1. UH (104): Krejci 96, Ching 2, Zimet 1, Theocharidis 1, Stanley 1, Tukuafu 1, Lockwood 1.
T-3:16. Officials: John Martin, Ernest Ho.
All-Tournament team
Hawaii: Costas Theocharidis, Clay Stanley. UCLA: Mark Williams, Seth Burnham. Penn State: Jose Quinones. IPFW: Hector Soto. MVP: Brandon Taliaferro, UCLA.
Penn State def. IPFW, 11-15, 16-14, 15-10, 15-12
Nittany Lions (2-4, 1-2 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Hoechst 4 6 0 11 .545 1 2 1 Whitescarver 4 5 3 16 .125 0 5 2 Quinones 4 5 4 15 .067 0 0 4 Guerra 4 23 13 46 .217 0 6 10 Koljesar 4 16 3 30 .433 0 2 5 Hawkins 4 3 3 6 .000 0 0 2 Hodge 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 15 Slenker 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Houston 3 8 5 18 .167 0 1 10 Briggs 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Aird 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 3 Totals 4 66 31 142 .246 1 16 52Mastodons (2-4 overall, 0-3 OHVIT)
G K E ATT PCT. BS BA D Kent 3 2 3 14 -.071 1 1 2 Ptak 4 15 2 30 .433 1 0 6 Gisslen 4 3 0 4 .750 1 5 7 Ruiz 4 4 4 10 .000 0 5 0 Soto 4 27 13 60 .233 1 1 5 Lane 4 17 4 37 .351 0 2 9 Eracleous 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 10 Cummings 3 1 1 2 .000 0 0 0 Thompson 2 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Totals 4 69 27 157 .268 4 14 39Aces--Penn State (4): Guerra 2, Hoechst 1,. Hawkins 1. IPFW (9): Ptak 4, Gisslen 2, Soto 2, Ruiz 1). Assists--Penn State (60): Quinones 53, Guerra 3, Hodge 3, Koljesar 1 IPFW (64): Gisslen 58, Lane 2, Eracleous 2, Ptak 1, Ruiz 1 .T--2:21. Officials--John Martin, Wayne Lee.
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Ka Leo O Hawaii
