VOLLEYBALL : 49ers Come Back to Beat Bruins

As might have been expected, Cal State Long Beach won three in a row against UCLA in the championship match of the Western Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. tournament Saturday night.

The 49ers had, after all, swept the Bruins twice during the regular season.

This time, however, Long Beach added a twist before a crowd of 1,310 at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center.

Long Beach lost the first two games, 4-15, 16-17, then came back to take three in a row, 15-11, 15-0, 15-10, to probably earn a wild-card invitation to the NCAA men’s volleyball final four Friday and Saturday in Honolulu.

The second-ranked 49ers (29-4) will learn today if they join top-ranked USC, Penn State and Indiana Purdue University at Ft. Wayne in the semifinals.

Frustrated by the blocking power of UCLA in the first two games, Long Beach stormed back to win behind a match-high 40 kills by Brent Hilliard.

“We said, ‘We beat these guys three in a row before, there’s no reason we can’t do it now,’ ” said Jason Stimpfig, Long Beach’s setter.

UCLA’s blockers, 6-foot-9 Mike Whitcomb and 6-10 Mike Kelly, stuffed the 49er attack in the first game and the 49ers hit only .220.

“We couldn’t get the ball by at all, it was amazing,” said Long Beach’s Brett Winslow, who backed Hilliard with 18 kills. “They’re so big. But after a while, we could feel them wearing down.”

But even though the Bruins won the second game, 17-16, the tide started turning toward Long Beach.

Hilliard, who reached 40 kills in a match for the fifth time this season, came on strong after hitting either into UCLA’s defense or far out of bounds most of the first game.

“He was yelling, ‘Give me the set. Give me the ball,’ ” 49er setter Jason Stimpfig said of Hilliard.

Long Beach got a break between the second and third games when a power surge caused the arena lights to dim and the match was delayed 13 minutes.

“That was good strategy, whoever turned the lights off,” UCLA Coach Al Scates said. “I wanted to play. The momentum we had was lost, and that’s what I was afraid would happen.”

Long Beach led wire to wire in the third game, then posted a rare shutout of the Bruins in the fourth game. UCLA’s lowest point total this season in a game had been five.

The Bruins, who finished the season with a 16-9 record, were led by Carl Henkel, who had 22 kills, and David Swatik, who had 16.