UCLA
Pepperdine
UCLA Falls in Five at Pepperdine
March 13, 2005 | Men's Volleyball
March 12, 2005
The top-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team lost a five-game battle to No.2 Pepperdine Saturday in Malibu. Pepperdine's victory will enable the Waves to overtake the Bruins in the rankings, assume the driver's seat in the MPSF race and most likely earn the right to host the league championship in late April.
Pepperdine won 28-30, 36-34, 30-26, 27-30, 15-13 in two hours and 27 minutes in front of 2,450 fans, its largest home crowd of the season. The Bruins fell to 18-3 overall, 13-3 in league play. The Waves, who won their 11th straight match, raised their record to 14-1 overall and in league play.
Game 2 proved to be the deciding point in the match as the Waves fought off a Bruin rally and held on to win when senior Sean Rooney slammed the final two points. Earlier in the game, UCLA had battled back from an 18-13 deficit to tie the score at 28-28 on a kill by senior Paul Johnson. The teams traded points with the Bruins failing to convert on a pair of game points and the Waves converting on their fourth try.
In Game 3 the Bruins built early leads of 7-4 and 10-6 before the Waves clawed back to tie the score at 11-11 on a pair of blocks and two kills by senior John Mayer. Neither team held more than a two-point edge and there were 11 ties and 14 lead changes. After the Bruins tied the score at 26-26, two blocks on UCLA senior Jonathan Acosta and kills by sophomore John Parfitt and Rooney gave Pepperdine a 2-1 lead.
The Waves built leads of 7-4, 12-8 and 17-14 before the Bruins tied it at 19-19 in Game 4. UCLA moved ahead 22-20 on a kill by senior Brennan Prahler, a Game 2 replacement for sophomore Steve Klosterman, and Mayer's hitting error. Pepperdine narrowed the score to 27-26 before UCLA called a timeout. A mishandled set by the Waves' Jonathan Winder gave the Bruins a two-point lead and Prahler's kill gave them a 29-26 advantage. A kill by Rooney gave Pepperdine the serve, but Winder's serve into the net evened the match at 2-2.
Pepperdine never trailed in the final game, despite three service errors. Rooney, Parfitt and junior Andy Hein combined for 11 kills without an error, and Rooney and sophomore Tom Hulse combined for one block. In contrast, the Bruins committed two key blocking errors, had three fewer kills, and did not record a block in Game 5. For the Bruins, Johnson, Acosta, Prahler and senior Allan Vince accounted for all eight kills in the game.
Johnson led UCLA with 17 kills (.536), two aces and a pair of block assists, followed by Prahler's 15 kills (.407) and one ace. Acosta recorded his second straight double-double with 14 kills, 13 digs and three block assists. Freshman Tony Ker led the Bruins with 14 digs and setter Dennis Gonzalez added 51 set assists.
Rooney led both teams with 30 kills (.439), two aces, four total blocks and 34.5 points. Mayer added 12 kills and three total blocks. Hein and Hulse each added six total blocks.
The Bruins return to Pauley Pavilion this week for a pair of non-conference matches against Rutgers-Newark (Mar. 16) and George Mason (Mar. 17). Both matches begin at 7 p.m.
