The NCAA News - News and Features

May 11, 1998

UCLA claims third volleyball championship in four years

The UCLA Bruins defeated top-seeded Pepperdine to claim their third National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship in four years.

A record crowd of 9,822 attended the May 2 championship game at the Stan Sheriff Center at Hawaii. UCLA swept the Waves, 15-11, 15-11, 15-7.

With this win, UCLA head coach Al Scates claimed his 17th title, an all-time NCAA single-sport record by a coach.

The Waves lost momentum in the second game when middle blocker Chris Jacobson was forced to leave with an injured ankle. Without Jacobson, the Bruins reeled off eight unanswered points and hit .857 during that stretch. The Waves were unable to recover.

Pepperdine was led by George Roumain, the American Volleyball Coaches Association Player of the Year, with 22 kills.

Adam Naeve, the tournament's most outstanding player, led a balanced Bruin attack with 23 kills. Evan Thatcher added 21 and Tom Stillwell had 18. Fred Robins and Brian Moselle rounded out the attack with 17 and 15 kills, respectively.

"That's the first time we had all five hitters hitting well," said Scates.

Brandon Taliaferro directed the Bruin offense, which hit .454 for the match.

The Bruins advanced to the championship match after a three-hour marathon win over Lewis in five games. Danny Farmer's kill in the rally-scored fifth game sent the Bruins to their sixth consecutive championship final.

Roumain and the Wave rolled over Princeton, 15-1,15-6,15-4, in the other semifinal match. The Waves used their size advantage to win the opening game, which took less than 15 minutes to play. The Waves hit .517 and tallied six service aces in the match.

Championship

K -- E -- TA -- PCT. -- SA -- DG -- BS

UCLA

Brandon Taliaferro -- 5 -- 1 -- 10 -- .400 -- 2 -- 8 -- 1

Evan Thatcher -- 21 -- 7 -- 40 -- .350 -- 2 -- 8 -- 0

Fred Robins -- 17 -- 3 -- 32 -- .438 -- 1 -- 7 -- 0

Tom Stillwell -- 18 -- 2 -- 29 -- .552 -- 1 -- 11 -- 0

Adam Naeve -- 23 -- 1 -- 35 -- .629 -- 3 -- 2 -- 0

Ben Moselle -- 15 -- 6 -- 28 -- .321 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0

Mark Williams -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- .000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Charlie Jackson -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- .000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Totals -- 99 -- 20 -- 174 -- .454 -- 9 -- 42 -- 1

Pepperdine

Chris Jacobson -- 14 -- 2 -- 23 -- .522 -- 0 -- 7 -- 0

J. J. Riley -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- .000 -- 2 -- 4 -- 0

George Roumain -- 22 -- 4 -- 45 -- .400 -- 1 -- 7 -- 0

Scott Wong -- 10 -- 7 -- 27 -- .111 -- 0 -- 6 -- 0

Peter Kodascy -- 17 -- 8 -- 33 -- .273 -- 2 -- 8 -- 0

Rick Tune -- 17 -- 1 -- 21 -- .762 -- 0 -- 7 -- 1

Donny Killian -- 0 -- 0 -- 1 -- .000 -- 0 -- 0 -- 0

Kurt Nelson -- 0 -- 0 -- 0 -- .000 -- 0 -- 1 -- 0

Totals -- 80 -- 22 -- 151 -- .384 -- 5 -- 40 -- 1

UCLA -- 15 -- 15 -- 15

Pepperdine -- 11 -- 11 -- 7