UCLA
Long Beach St.
UCLA Sweeps The Beach at Pauley
February 09, 2005 | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 9, 2005
The top-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team avenged a season's worth of losses to Long Beach State Wednesday by sweeping the 49ers in Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins won 30-21, 30-21, 30-28 in 82 minutes in front of 579 boisterous fans. The victory raised the Bruins' record to 11-1 overall, 7-1 in league play. The Beach fell to 7-4, 5-3.
After losing to Long Beach State three times in nine games last season, UCLA is exacting "sweep" revenge this season with two victories in six games. The Bruins also swept the 49ers on Jan. 7.
Games 1 and 2 were hardly close. The 49ers dug early holes for themselves with a variety of unforced errors while the Bruins proceeded to block them off the floor, 10.0-1.5. The Bruins also served four aces in the first two games while The Beach scrambled to organize its passing schemes. At one point, Long Beach State Coach Alan Knipe pulled his starters off the court.
In Game 3 the 49ers turned the tide on the Bruins as the hosts began unraveling until Long Beach State's Robert Tarr slammed a kill to give the visitors their biggest lead at 21-15. Out of timeouts and backed against the wall, the Bruins somehow regrouped and went on a 3-0 run, courtesy of a kill and a block by senior Jonathan Acosta. The Beach called timeout at 21-18 and scored a point coming out of it on a kill by senior Nathan Hagstrom. A pair of LBSU service errors, a thunderous block by the Bruins and an ace by UCLA's Paul Johnson sliced the lead to 23-22 before another timeout by the 49ers. The 49ers managed to stave off the Bruins until junior Robert Tarr committed a hitting error and the game was tied at 26-26. The Beach was serving at 28-27 when a service error by Hagstrom tied the game again. A spike attempt by LBSU's Francisco Valdez hit the antenna and a kill by UCLA's Johnson ended the match.
Johnson led all players with 21 points on 12 kills (.667), seven total blocks and four aces. Senior Allan Vince added nine kills (.727), six total blocks and an ace, followed by senior Kris Kraushaar who slammed 10 kills (.474) and recorded two block assists. Junior Dennis Gonzalez recorded 37 set assists and one block assist.
Robert Tarr led the 49ers with 18 kills but had 10 errors in 35 swings. Hagstrom added 14 kills (.458) and a block assist.
The Bruins continue their homestand on Fri., Feb. 11 with a league match against UC San Diego. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.
