UCLA, Pepperdine Advance to Final

Victims of a surprising loss to Loyola Marymount earlier this month, UCLA didn’t let it happen again, defeating the Lions, 15-8, 15-11, 13-15, 15-12, in a semifinal of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s volleyball tournament Thursday at Pepperdine.

Some would say natural order was restored--Loyola Marymount fell to 1-60 all-time against UCLA.

Others would say the Lions (12-12) played pretty well for being an eighth-seeded team, the lowest in the tournament.

Either way, the fourth-seeded Bruins (26-5) advanced to play Pepperdine--a 4-15, 15-13, 15-12, 17-15 winner over USC Thursday night--in the championship match Saturday at Pepperdine.

Eight players had at least seven kills for UCLA, including freshman Cameron Mount, who entered the match in the fourth game with the Bruins trailing, 7-3.

Mount delivered seven kills in eight attempts and ended the match with a kill down the right side that glanced off the arm of Brian Wagner.

“I heard someone say we have 10 starters on our team,” Mount said. “That’s a pretty good way of putting it. We have three or four starters on the bench.”

Ed Ratledge, also a reserve, had 14 kills, as did starter Seth Burnham. Matt Komer led the Bruins with 15 kills.

Loyola Marymount upset top-seeded Long Beach State in the first round, but didn’t pose a threat in the first two games Thursday.

“We didn’t start playing with intensity until the third game,” said outside hitter Corin Bemus, who had 28 kills.

Reid Priddy had a match-high 34 kills for Loyola Marymount.

In the other semifinal, Andre Breuer had 27 kills for Pepperdine and the Waves defeated USC for the third time this season.

Brook Billings had 28 kills for third-seeded USC (22-5), which looked unstoppable in winning the first game.

But the second-seeded Waves (22-4) persevered and turned around the match, overcoming deficits in the final three games.

Donny Killian had 16 kills in 20 attempts without a hitting error for Pepperdine.

USC trailed in the fourth game, 14-12, but fought off 15 match points and eventually took a 15-14 lead. The Waves took the next three points, however, winning the match on a kill by Keith Barnett.