Thatcher Leads No. 4 UCLA Past Top-Ranked Pepperdine

In this strange, wide-open men’s volleyball season, no team has been more unpredictable than UCLA.

The Bruins have suffered head-scratching losses to Loyola Marymount and Cal State Northridge, but defeated most of the top teams in the nation.

On Saturday night, the Bruins looked good as ever, defeating top-ranked Pepperdine, 15-9, 12-15, 15-13, 16-14, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at Pauley Pavilion.

Evan Thatcher had 21 kills and the No. 4-ranked Bruins (23-5, 13-4 in MPSF play) overcame late deficits in the third and fourth games to win the match.

Scott Wong and Andre Breuer each had 20 kills for Pepperdine (18-4, 14-3).

All-American setter Brandon Taliaferro had 70 assists and five kills for UCLA, despite playing with a viral infection.

The victory over Pepperdine cured the Bruins’ ails. They lost to Loyola Marymount on Wednesday for the first time in school history.

“We had to make sure everybody still respects us,” Taliaferro said. “It’s good to get our confidence back.”

UCLA overturned a 13-12 deficit in the third game and a 14-12 deficit in the fourth game.

The Waves had a chance to assert themselves in the battle for home-court advantage throughout the MPSF tournament. Now, they’ll need some help.

They trail Long Beach State (22-3, 15-2) by a match with two left to play. Long Beach State, which plays host to UCLA and plays at USC, has the tiebreaker over Pepperdine because of a five-game victory over the Waves last month.

The Waves’ final regular-season matches are against Loyola Marymount and UC Irvine.

“I’ve always thought the playoffs were going to come down to a match that was played on April 15,” said Pepperdine Coach Jeff Stork. “It’s wide open. Long Beach is probably favored right now, but they still have to play UCLA and USC.”