UCLA
Penn State (Outrigger Tournament)
Bruins End Streak with Sweep Against Penn State
January 19, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 19, 2006
The fifth-ranked UCLA men's volleyball team ended a three-match skid with a sweep over No.11 Penn State in the second night of competition at the 12th Annual Outrigger Hotels Invitational in Honolulu, HI.
The Bruins won 36-34, 30-26, 30-21 in less than two hours. The victory stopped a skid that included a nine-game losing streak and leveled the Bruins' overall record to 3-3. Penn State, which has lost three in a row, fell to 1-3 overall.
In a match largely determined by unforced errors, the Bruins made fewer mistakes down the stretch of each of the three games to pull out the victory. Head Coach Al Scates also retooled the starting lineup by inserting junior Steve Klosterman at outside hitter for freshman Sean O'Malley, and by starting redshirt sophomore Eric Chaghouri at Libero in place of All-American Tony Ker.
UCLA's extra time victory in Game 1 was a huge factor in the sweep. They battled back from a four-point deficit to tie the game at 27-27 and had four swings to win it before prevailing, 36-34. After a service error by the Bruins' Paul George tied the game at 34-34, senior David Russell slammed a pair of kills, including the final point off a PSU over-pass, to capture the game.
In Game 2, the Bruins squandered a pair of two-point leads (3-0 and 9-6) and a five-point margin (12-7) before Penn State faltered down the stretch. At 23-23, the Nittany Lions served into the net, and the Bruins' Russell served a net crawler that fell for an ace for a two-point margin. Penn State's Max Holt hit long for 26-23 and PSU called its final timeout. The Lions roared back with two points to close the gap to 26-25. But the Bruins' Paul George got hot, slamming three kills in the clutch. George's serve at 29-26 forced PSU into a hitting error for the final point.
In Game 3, the Bruins moved out to an 11-7 lead before Penn State would charge back with a 6-3 run to trail 14-13. The Nittany Lions never got closer thereafter as the Bruins discovered their hitting form, attacking at a .536 percentage in the game. The Bruins also recorded four blocks, including three block assists by senior Nick Scheftic.
After recording no blocks in Game 1, the Bruins rediscovered their net form with nine total blocks in the final two games. After two games they were hitting just .211, but raised that figure to .303 for the match after sizzling in Game 3. The Bruins held the Nittany Lions to an attack percentage of .147 for the match, including .031 for Game 2.
Individually, George led UCLA with 12 kills (.333), followed by senior Damien Scott with 11. Scheftic led the team in blocking with five total and added seven kills (.364) and a pair of aces. Russell slammed eight kills without an error (.533) and setter Dennis Gonzalez added three kills (.750). Chaghouri led the Bruins with six digs, followed by Gonzalez with five.
Matt Proper and Matt Anderson led the Nittanly Lions with 15 kills apiece.
UCLA meets Hawaii in the tournament finale on Friday at 7 p.m. HST.
