The UCLA Bruins were in hot pursuit of their 18th NCAA title May 6 in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. They did not disappoint, sweeping Ohio State, 15-8, 15-10, 17-15, to claim yet another National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship.

Four-time all-America setter Brandon Taliaferro quarterbacked a potent UCLA offense that produced a .459 hitting percentage for the match. Senior Evan Thatcher pounded down a match-high 25 kills against the Buckeyes, while four of his teammates also had kill totals in double figures.

The first game saw the Bruins jump out to a 5-0 lead before Ohio State responded. It would be a recurring theme throughout the afternoon. The Buckeyes, led by the superb play of Chris Fash (21 kills), Colin McMillan (15 kills) and Pieter Olree (17 kills), tied up each game midway through scoring, but the Bruins managed to pull away.

"We couldn't keep sustained pressure on them," McMillan said. "We always felt like we had to come from behind."

As a typically strong sideout team, Ohio State's Fash said the Buckeyes found few second chances to convert their sideouts to points. "It seemed like they touched every ball," he said.

With commanding first- and second-game wins, the Bruins' attack barely let up until the end of the third game. The Buckeyes seized the opportunity and tied the game at 7-7.

Olree and Fash went on the attack and rallied their teammates to a 13-8 lead. It was the Buckeyes' largest of the afternoon.

UCLA's Taliaferro said, "They started to believe in themselves again and we started to make errors. Once we calmed down, we shifted the momentum back to us."

Taliaferro orchestrated the comeback by feeding his front-line attackers, especially Thatcher, with a variety of sets that confused the Ohio State blockers. Taliaferro also served up two aces, with the latter one giving the Bruins a 16-15 lead. A kill by Mark Williams sealed the victory for UCLA.

"This is the best team the Midwest has ever produced," Bruins coach Al Scates said. "It was a guessing game the whole time."

Scates' comment was validated by the fact that the three games took two hours and 15 minutes to complete.

En route to the finals, Ohio State defeated Pepperdine, 17-15, 15-9, 15-10, and UCLA downed Penn State, 15-11, 15-8, 15-10.

The all-tournament team consisted of Taliaferro, Thatcher and Seth Burnham for UCLA, and Anjel Aja, Fash and McMillan for Ohio State. Taliaferro also was named the most outstanding player of the tournament.

CHAMPIONSHIP