COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL / NCAA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS : UCLA Wins Easily for 14th Title

The UCLA men’s volleyball players looked like old pros to the national championships Saturday night as they defeated Cal State Northridge, 15-8, 15-11, 15-10, before a crowd of 8,842 at Pauley Pavilion to win their 14th NCAA title in 24 years.

But that was not the case.

The Bruins seemed to be the veterans because the school was making its 16th appearance in the Final Four while Northridge was making its first.

But the Bruins hadn’t reached the Final Four since 1989--the longest absence in school history--so none of the current Bruins had played in the event.

For the UCLA seniors, the match was their last chance to avoid becoming the first class in school history to go without a title.

This season, however, UCLA (24-3) was ranked No. 1 the entire season.

For senior Mike Sealy, UCLA’s All-American setter and the co-most valuable player of the NCAA tournament along with teammate Jeff Nygaard, the victory was a fitting end to his career.

“It is a relief,” Sealy said. “I don’t know when it is going to hit, but it is definitely a relief.”

Senior Dan Landry led UCLA with a season-high 30 kills.

Nerves were evident on both sides as the match started. Both teams went through an entire rotation before UCLA’s Kevin Wong hit through a two-man block to score the first point of the match.

The Bruins controlled the first game, but after taking a 14-6 lead, they needed eight tries to secure it. Erik Sullivan finally ended the game, which lasted 45 minutes, tapping the ball past a two-man block.

UCLA jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the second game, but could not hold off a rally that brought Northridge to within 10-9.

Sullivan served three consecutive points, but Northridge responded, scoring on kills by Coley Kyman and Axel Hager.

But after Wong tapped the ball past a three-man block to bring the score to 14-11, Northridge middle blocker Ken Lynch hit long to end the game.

Northridge jumped to a 4-1 lead to start the third game, but an 11-2 run by UCLA put the Bruins in control.

Northridge was led by Hagar and Lynch, who had 25 and 24 kills, respectively.

UCLA Coach Al Scates, the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. coach of the year, improved his record in NCAA tournament matches at Pauley Pavilion to 22-0, 8-0 in championship finals.

For Northridge (23-10), the NCAA Final Four is the highest postseason achievement of any Matador team in any sport since the athletic program moved to the NCAA Division I level for the 1990-91 season.

The two-day attendance total of 13,073 broke the Final Four attendance record.