UCLA
BYU
Men's Volleyball Falls to No. 1 BYU
June 21, 1999 | Men's Volleyball
February 27, 1999
PROVO, Utah - The No. 1 BYU men's volleyball team improved to a record 15-0 on the season with its second straight 3-0 (15-11, 15-8, 15-12) defeat of No. 2 UCLA in as many nights, while the Bruins lost their third straight match of the week, falling to 11-5, 9-4 on the season. While UCLA owns a 17-5 record over the Cougars, BYU has won three of the last four match-ups between the two schools, including a 3-0 victory at Pauley Pavilion last season.
"I think UCLA did a great job tonight," BYU head coach Carl McGown said. "They made this a tough match, even without All-American Adam Naeve. I would hate to think we would have to play in a match like this without a Ryan Millar or Ossie Antonetti. It would be impossible."
In game one, BYU jumped out to a 7-2 lead before UCLA rallied to get within one at 9-8. A Hector Lebron block spurred a 5-0 run for the Cougars, giving BYU a 14-9 lead. UCLA quickly grabbed the momentum with a 3-0 run of their own to get within four. A Ryan Millar block gave the Cougars the game-point opportunity when Lebron came up with the game-winning block.
All-American and Player-of-the-Year candidate Ossie Antonetti led the Cougars with seven kills in game one, while Millar hit a stellar five of seven (.714). Millar also produced a game-high five digs and four blocks.
In game two, UCLA scored first to claim its first ever lead of the weekend, however it was short lived as BYU went on a 8-0 run as the two teams continued to trade serves. With BYU leading 10-3, UCLA chipped away at the lead behind the hitting of Fred Robins, Brandon Taliaferro and Evan Thatcher. With the Bruins gaining on an 11-7 BYU lead, Millar came up with a kill to turn the momentum back to the Cougars. UCLA would score once more, but it was a Rich Lambourne's cross-court kill that ended the game, 15-8.
In what would be the final game of the match, the two teams battled to a 11-11 tie, before BYU took the lead on one of Mac Wilson's 17 kills. UCLA committed five service errors that cleared the way for the Cougars to take a 14-12 lead. As in game one, it was Lebron who ended the record-setting match with a block to give BYU its first-ever two-match sweep over the Bruins.
"Mac Wilson was spectacular for us this evening, "McGown said. "We had several players who really performed well for us tonight. It was a nice all-around match. However, I can count on one finger the number of times UCLA has been swept in six straight games. We're just going to enjoy this one."
Antonetti recorded a match high 29 kills and recorded 11 digs, marking the third straight match with double-double figures. Millar added 19 kills, 10 digs and a match high eight blocks, while Wilson hit 17-of-24 on the night, posting a match high .625. Over the two-match series against the Bruins, Wilson hit 32-of-44 (.636) with just four hitting errors.
For the Bruins, Thatcher recorded a team high 20 kills on 31 attempts (.631), while Robins had 11 kills and a match high 16 digs.
"I think we played better tonight," UCLA head coach Al Scates said. "The results from this weekend should make us a better team. With Adam (Naeve) out, some other players have taken sets they normally would not have received with Adam in the lineup.
"If we can play through this (three straight losses), we should be fine. It's hard to lose and still maintain that fighting spirit. However, I think this group has the ability to overcome this."
With the Cougars win on Saturday, BYU has now won 23 straight home matches, dating back to the 1997 season. Ironically, the Cougars' last home loss came at the hands of UCLA on March 28, 1997. In addition, the win marks BYU's 17th straight regular-season victory, with its last loss coming against UCLA last season.
