UCLA Wins Third Title in Four Years

A week after Pepperdine defeated them in four games, the UCLA men’s volleyball team dominated the top-seeded Waves at Honolulu Saturday night in the finals of the NCAA championship, 15-11, 15-11, 15-7, for their third championship in four years.

The earlier loss to Pepperdine may have been an eye opener for the Bruins.

The Waves (23-5) defeated UCLA in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament at Pauley Pavilion on April 25 for their first victory over UCLA at Pauley since 1986.

In that match, UCLA (28-4) served and passed the ball poorly.

But on Saturday, UCLA All-American Brandon Taliaferro set the ball for a host of different Bruin hitters, including Adam Navae, named the tournament’s most outstanding player, Evan Thatcher and Tom Stillwell.

“I thought Taliaferro had a great game,” UCLA Coach Al Scates said. “He really distributed. I don’t think we had a predictable rotation at all. He kept everyone in the game.”

Navae had 23 kills, Thatcher had 21 and Stillwell 18.

For Scates, it was his 17th national title, an all-time NCAA single-sport record by a coach.

“I love this game,” Scates said. “I’ll keep going for another 10 years.”

Pepperdine, led by George Roumain’s 22 kills, played without middle blocker Chris Jacobson for most of the crucial second game after an ankle injury forced him to the sideline with the score, 2-2.

With Jacobson gone, the Bruins scored eight unanswered points.

“[The loss] is tough on everyone on the team,” said Roumain, selected the American Volleyball Coaches Assn. player of the year last Wednesday. “We worked hard to get here and we didn’t play the way we are capable of playing.”