UCLA
Lewis
Men's Volleyball Wins Third Straight, Beats Lewis, 3-1
June 21, 1999 | Men's Volleyball
March 10, 1999
Fifth ranked UCLA won its third consecutive match Tuesday, defeating eighth ranked Lewis, 3-1, before 815 in Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins (14-6) won 9-15, 15-13, 15-7, 15-9 in two hours, avenging a five-game defeat to the Flyers on Jan. 21 in the Outrigger Hotels Invitational in Honolulu. UCLAs victory was its seventh in the eight-match history of the series.
The victory also marked the return of three UCLA All-Americans, who have been sidelined because of illness or injury in the last two weeks. Junior Adam Naeve, who sat out a four-match stretch because of an ankle injury, led the Bruins with 16 kills and eight blocks. Setter Brandon Taliaferro, battling the effects of a stomach ailment, led the Bruins with four aces, and senior Fred Robins, out last week with the flu, dug a team-high 13 balls.
In Game 1, the Flyers broke from a 5-5 tie and moved out to an 8-5 advantage on three straight UCLA hitting errors. After a UCLA time-out at 10-7, the Flyers scored five of the next seven points.
In Game 2, the Bruins raced to a 9-2 lead, largely because of seven Lewis attack errors. But the Flyers stormed back to tie the game at 13-13 mainly because of four UCLA attack errors. The Bruins finally won the game on Taliaferros ace and a Lewis hitting error.
The Bruins cruised to 4-1 lead in Game 3 and were never threatened. They opened a 13-6 lead when Lewis All-American Victor Rivera committed another hitting error. Two kills by junior Evan Thatcher gave UCLA a 2-1 lead.
The Bruins broke a 5-5 tie in Game 4 on a Lewis attack error and an ace by Thatcher. Another ace by Naeve made it 10-7. With the Bruins ahead 12-9, an ace by junior Matt Davis gave them a 13-9 lead and two more attack errors by the Flyers gave UCLA the match.
