Bruins Finally Avenge a Defeat : Volleyball: UCLA men win NCAA title by beating Penn State, which had beaten them in last year’s championship match.

Top-ranked UCLA won its 15th NCAA Division I men’s volleyball championship Saturday, beating defending champion Penn State, 3-0.

The Bruins won, 15-3, 15-10, 15-10, for their 19th consecutive match victory to finish with a 31-1 record.

With the score 4-4 in the final game, UCLA surged in front to stay. The first match point was saved by Penn State’s Brian Miller before Kevin Wong made the final kill as UCLA avenged last year’s loss to the Nittany Lions in the NCAA title game.

“My job was easy tonight because all six starters played so well,” UCLA Coach Al Scates said. “This was one of our better teams, so I felt a little extra pressure this year.”

UCLA beat Ball State, 3-0, in the semifinals.

UCLA’s Jeff Nygaard, the NCAA player of the year, was named the outstanding player of the tournament, which was held at the Springfield Civic Center. Also named to the all-tournament team were UCLA’s Stein Metzger and John Speraw, Penn State’s Ivan Contreras, Ball State’s Todd Reimer and Hawaii’s Yuval Katz.

UCLA played with power and precision from the start. With Wong serving, the Bruins ran off the first four points. At 11-3, they took the last four points and Wong ended the game with a block.

Penn State led, 6-3, in the second game but didn’t stay in front for long. UCLA took the lead for good at 9-8. At game point, Nygaard made the kill to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead in games.

Nygaard and Wong had seven kills each in the second game.

Penn State (26-4), which saw its winning streak ended at 16 matches, beat Hawaii in the semifinals.

In the third-place game, Ball State beat Hawaii, 3-1, behind Reimer’s 25 kills. Ball State (25-9) won, 15-6, 10-15, 15-13, 15-8. Also helping the team from Muncie, Ind., were Greg Romano and Phil Eatherton, who combined for 35 putaways.

Hawaii (19-8), making its first appearance in the Final Four, got a 20-kill performance from Katz.