NCAA Men’s Volleyball Tournament : Pepperdine and USC Roll Into the Final Tonight

Now that the East and the Midwest have been disposed of, Pepperdine and USC can get on with the business of deciding which West Coast team will be the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. men’s volleyball champion this time around.

Pepperdine and USC will play for the title tonight at 8 at Pauley Pavilion.

Friday night, Pepperdine eliminated Ball State, 15-2, 15-2, 15-7, in just one hour, without giving it a second thought.

USC had a little more trouble with George Mason in the second match but won, 15-4, 15-11, 15-10. In the second game, George Mason came from a 13-6 deficit to 13-11 before the Trojans wrapped it up.

Pepperdine has beaten USC three times this season and has a streak of nine straight victories over the Trojans.

But USC Coach Bob Yoder is heartened by the fact that the scores are getting closer. “The first couple of times we played them this season, we lost in four games, and we even got blown out in a couple of games,” he said. “The last time we played them five tough games, and since then we’ve come a long way.”

USC’s Bill Yardley added: “We came out of that last match with a smile on our faces. We had just come back from Hawaii, we were playing at Pepperdine, and we played well. It told us we could play with them.”

Pepperdine Coach Marv Dunphy isn’t doubting that. Asked what it would take to beat USC, he said, “Adam Johnson and Bill Yardley are their best hitters, but some teams make the mistake of going out and trying to stop them. They’re going to get their kills, no matter what we do. I’d like to hold the other guys to a normal game.”

It was no contest, but then, it wasn’t expected to be as Pepperdine’s record went to 24-2. Ball State’s dropped to 22-12.

Even without middle blocker Rob Scott, Pepperdine breezed into the final match. Scott, who injured an ankle in practice last week, is expected to miss the final game, too. Steve Frielman is taking his place.

Ball State Coach Don Shondell minced no words: “Pepperdine was about as good as we thought they’d be . . . We seemed a little intimidated by the height of their net play and the tempo of their offense.

“Pepperdine is consistent in all areas . . . Even without Scott, I think they compare with any of the great teams I’ve seen in this tournament over the years, and I’ve seen all the championships since the beginning.”

USC will go into the final game with a record of 28-8. George Mason finished its season 26-7.

The announced attendance figure was a generous estimate of 2,000. It was a small but patient group that actually stuck around during the 1 1/2 hours between the matches.

Apparently, the NCAA volleyball committee decided many months ago that the second match would begin at 8 p.m., regardless of when the first match ended and regardless of what UCLA was announcing. That policy will apply tonight, too, with the consolation game at 5:30 p.m. and the final game at 8 p.m.