UCLA
Pepperdine (MPSF Semifinals)
Bruins Roll Past Waves in MPSF Semifinals
April 27, 2006 | Men's Volleyball
April 27, 2006
Fifth-ranked UCLA knocked off No. 4 Pepperdine in the MPSF semifinals at UC Irvine Thursday and will meet No.2 Long Beach State on Saturday for a berth in the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship at Penn State, May 4 & 6.
The Bruins (23-12) won their 11th straight match by defeating the Waves 3-0 in 1:23 at UCI's Bren Center. The Bruins won 30-26, 30-28, 30-23 and avenged two previous losses this season plus a four-match losing streak to the Waves, who fell to 17-8.
In the second semifinal, No.2 Long Beach State (23-9) upset top-ranked UC Irvine (27-4) 3-0.
The Bruins and 49ers meet at 7 p.m. on Saturday at UCI's Bren Center. The winner of Saturday's championship match receives an automatic berth into the NCAA Championship.
In Game 1. the Bruins opened up an early five-point lead, forcing the Waves, who were trailing 12-7, to burn a timeout. UCLA would maintain its advantage until late in the game when Pepperdine's Paul Carroll slammed a kill to ignite an 8-2 run, tying the game at 23. But the The Bruins then iced the game with a 7-3 run.
Game 2 saw the Waves jump out to a quick lead, and after consecutive UCLA attack errors were followed by a Carroll kill, the Bruins called a timeout, trailing 7-4. Pep surged to its largest lead at 15-11. The Bruins fought back to knot the score at 16-16 and took the lead for good on a kill by senior David Russell. Trailing 28-26, Carroll served Pepperdine's only ace of the match and Parfitt slammed a kill after a UCLA point. With the Bruins clinging to a 29-28 lead, senior Damien Scott converted game point for a 2-0 lead.
UCLA took control of Game 3 early gaining an 8-5 lead. A Parfitt kill capped a 4-2 Wave run, bringing the score to 10-9, but that would be as close as the Waves would get as the Bruins scored the next four points leaving Pepperdine in the dust en route to advancing to Saturday's championship match.
It was a solid victory for the Bruins, who hit .379 and held the Waves to an attack percentage of .312. The Bruins served seven aces to the Waves' one and out-blocked them 12.5-8.0.
Individually, junior Paul George led UCLA with 16 kills (.464) and 17.5 points. Senior Nick Scheftic added 14 kills (.650), five block assists and 16.5 points. Senior Damien Scott and junior Steve Klosterman each added 10 kills. Senior setter Dennis Gonzalez started his first match since Mar. 10 and recorded 48 assists, six digs and two total blocks.
Tickets for Saturday's match can be purchased by calling the UCI ticket office at 949-824-5000.
