Coming off their exhilarating win at then-No. 1 Hawai’i,
the now-No. 1 Bruins continued their dominant play by sweeping
defending champion Lewis in three games (30-18, 30-27, 30-25)
Wednesday night at Pauley Pavilion.
The win marked the Bruins’ (14-3, 8-3 MPSF) fifth in their
last six games and provides UCLA with some redemption after its
five-game loss to the No. 13 Flyers (8-9) last year.
“We came out and played really well today,” coach Al
Scates said. “The blocking in the first game was our best of
the year.”
The Bruins started strong from the beginning, collecting 11
blocks in the first game on the way to a 30-18 victory.
UCLA was helped by a new lineup to start the game.
Setter Beau Peters started in place of Dennis Gonzalez, who was
a late scratch from the lineup with an injured knee.
After his excellent play over the weekend in Hawai’i,
sophomore Damien Scott made the start at outside hitter.
“I thought Beau set a really nice game, substituting for
Dennis,” Scates said. “We kept Gonzalez out of
practice, and the trainer thought it was best if he did not start
today.”
Wednesday’s match marked Scott’s first home start of
the year, and it paid off, as he finished with 10 digs and four
kills on the night.
“I was a little nervous to start the game,” Scott
said. “But I was able to settle down, and I’m glad we
just got the win.”
“I have never seen so many hard balls come off a
player’s hand before,” Scates said. “(Scott) was
hitting very hard, and his serving was crucial for us.”
The Bruins were led overall by freshman Steve Klosterman, who
contributed with a game-high 19 kills and Paul Johnson, who
finished with 10.
“Klosterman had his usual solid game for us,” Scates
said.
Peters, making only his third start of the season, finished with
43 assists as the Bruins ended with a .357 hitting percentage.
The Bruins’ main focus against Lewis was three-time
All-American Fabiano Barreto, who ended the night with 15 kills in
39 attempts.
“Barreto is awfully hard to stop,” Scates said.
“Coming into the game, he was the key, and I thought we did
relatively well against him.
“Their only other main hitter was Jeff Soler. We were able
to contain him, limiting their offense greatly.”
Lewis, which was coming off a loss Monday to lowly USC, has
struggled mightily this season after winning the national title in
2003.
Lewis only hit for a .138 hitting percentage, and Barreto was
the only Flyer to register more than eight kills.
The Bruins now look forward to playing Pacific and No. 12
Stanford this weekend at home, in two crucial conference matches
for the Bruins.