Pepperdine Prevents Scates from Getting 900th Victory

Thursday night was supposed to belong to UCLA men’s volleyball Coach Al Scates, whose Bruins could have given him his 900th career victory by beating Pepperdine.

But apparently nobody told the Waves, who ended a six-match losing streak to the Bruins, including four consecutive sweeps, with a 15-10, 15-5, 15-11 victory in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at Firestone Fieldhouse.

Pepperdine (6-2, 5-1 in MPSF play) moved into a first-place tie with UC Santa Barbara in the Mountain Division.

The Waves’ calm was personified by setter Kurt Nelson, who transferred to Pepperdine from UCLA last month. He had 57 assists and, more importantly, didn’t get run over by adrenaline. Or his teammates.

“I’ve been playing against them in practice the past couple of years,” said Nelson, who changed schools at the semester break after Waves setter J.J. Riley went down with a season-ending knee injury. “They’re a good team, but this proves we’re a good team, too.”

Pepperdine outserved, outhit and outblocked the Bruins (5-3, 4-2), who didn’t look like defending national champions.

George Roumain (23 kills) and Kevin Barnett (15 kills) were steady from the outside and on defense, and Chris Jacobson and Peter Kodacsy bottled up UCLA’s attack.

It might have been the crowd--announced at 2,250--that affected the Bruins, but they shouldn’t have been fazed. They played in front of 10,225 fans in a victory at Hawaii last month.

Phil Nihipali, UCLA’s All-American outside hitter, fell apart in games two and three. He finished with a team-high 13 kills, but had eight errors and a .156 hitting percentage.

Scates, when asked what would change when the teams meet again April 4 at UCLA, said: “The outcome.”