Thursday, February 25, 1999
Unprepared Bruins lose to UCI in five
MVOLLEYBALL: No. 2 UCLA blows chance to keep streak of 36 wins
alive; viral infection halts Naeve
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Contributor
One may be a lonely number, but not when it comes for the first
time ever in the UC Irvine record books as a win against the No. 2
UCLA men’s volleyball team.
"This is the happiest moment of my life!" proclaimed a jubilant
Mike Rupp. Rupp, UCI’s outside hitter, led both teams in kills with
30.
"We knew we could win before the game, but I don’t know if any
of us thought we’d actually do it," Rupp added in wonder.
UCLA (11-3, 9-2) turned in a lackluster performance, starting
game one slowly and blowing a five-point lead in game four to give
UCI the victory in five games, 12-15, 15-9, 15-4, 15-13 and 13-15.
Their record against UCI is now 36-1.
Quick hitter Adam Naeve, who got a viral infection a few days
ago and sat out Monday’s practice, was obviously suffering from the
illness. Naeve played only part of game four before a sprained
ankle took him out of the match.
"Without Adam Naeve playing they were a different team," said
UCI coach Charlie Brande.
The Anteaters (6-7, 4-6) jumped to a 9-2 lead in game one,
capitalizing on several Bruin mistakes. Although UCLA slowly caught
up to the Anteaters, closing the gap to 12-14, the mistakes were
just too many and too crucial.
Naeve set the tone when he gave UCI their first point by lifting
the ball. The Bruins also passed, blocked and hit the ball out of
bounds for seven UCI points. Point 12 for the Anteaters’ came when
hitter Mark Williams mishandled the ball and point 15 came when
UCI’s Donnie Rafter’s soft serve touched the ground for an ace –
due to miscommunication among the UCLA players.
"We just came out flat," said opposite hitter Ed Ratledge, "and
we never turned it up."
But the Bruins did get hot in games two and three. Game two
started with UCI and UCLA evenly matched, as both teams would catch
up to the other immediately when one got ahead. With the score tied
at 7-7, UCLA finally managed to pull away, going on a 5-0 run as
Rafter’s hit didn’t clear the net; UCLA setter Brandon Taliaferro
served one of his four aces, and quick hitter Danny Farmer roofed a
UCI hit, among other heroics. The Anteaters managed two more points
but lost, 15-9.
Game three was all UCLA. The Anteaters managed to stay close
with the score at 3-4, but then allowed the Bruins an 8-0 run. UCI
did get a fourth point when Bruin outside hitter Fred Robins
somehow ended up on UCI’s side of the net for a UCI point, and then
redeemed himself immediately with a sideout. This led to three
rapid points and the game for UCLA.
It looked like game four would parallel game three in terms UCLA
dominating. The Bruins jumped to a 9-4 lead and held onto it until
the score was still a safe 12-7. Then their play rapidly fell
apart.
"We started to get frustrated. It’s a lot easier for them to
score if we get frustrated," Ratledge said.
The Anteaters went on a quick 8-1 run with no more than two
sideouts in between points to do the unthinkable – take game four
at 15-13.
"When we pulled ahead in the fourth game, the momentum was going
our way," Brande said.
The rally round of game five was fast and started well for the
Bruins, though they never led by more than three points. UCI scored
three points in a row to tie at 11-11, and matched the Bruins point
for point until Farmer hit the ball wide to give UCI their 14th
point. An Anteater ace ended the game for the last point.
"We weren’t ready to play tonight; we’re very beatable when
we’re not ready," UCLA coach Al Scates said.
Despite the loss, UCLA can be proud that four of their players
had kills in double digits, while three got double-doubles. Farmer
led the team with 25 kills and 11 digs, Robins second with 22 and
11, and Williams next with 14 kills and 14 digs. UCLA’s Seth Champi
and Ratledge came off the bench for inspiring performances as
well.
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