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Friday, January 29, 1999

Farmer's twin not only Bruin similarity with Loyola Marymount

PREVIEW: UCLA must improve blocking, overcome tough loss to regain conference superiority

By Nick Taylor

Daily Bruin Contributor

After a disappointing five-game loss at home to Pepperdine, the Bruin men's volleyball team will try to rebound against Loyola Marymount this Saturday in the Wooden center.

Despite the loss, the Bruins remain confident. "When we play well, and by that I mean block well," coach Al Scates said, "we can beat anybody."

The Bruins, however, is not playing well. The team is only 3-2 after its first five games this year, and its No. 1 ranking is sure to drop after Wednesday's loss.

UCLA's defense is in a state of disbelief; they gave up 39 kills to Player of the Year George Roumain, and allowed the Waves to hit .299 over the five-game match.

It doesn't get any easier for the defense against LMU; they will match up against Danny Farmer's fraternal twin brother Tim Farmer, who averages 6.33 kills per game in the early season.

In facing his brother, Danny is up to the challenge. He led the team against Pepperdine with 23 kills, 16 digs, hit .514 and was everywhere on the court.

Danny will have to neutralize Tim in the middle if the Bruins hope to be successful.

UCLA does have some positives heading into Saturday's match, for they know they hit better against Pepperdine than LMU did (.328 compared to .194), and they put on a furious comeback against the Waves after narrowly dropping the first two games.

Adam Naeve hit .412, had 18 kills and had nine blocks against the Waves. Eight of those blocks were assists, which fits perfectly into Scates' defensive philosophy. "Instead of having one-on-one blocks," he said, "we run two to three blockers to the block."

Brandon Taliaferro complemented Naeve at the block. He had six block-assists against the Waves to help the team total 11 team-blocks.

The Bruins will also have to slow the Lions' Reid Priddy, Corin Remus and Robert Schildts. Priddy averages 4.14 kills per game, Remus 3.86 and Schildts 3.00 - so LMU has a balanced offense similar to UCLA.

The Bruins like to spread the ball around on offense. Usually, setter Taliaferro will handle all of the sets, but in transition, Scates explained, "Anybody will set the ball."

Once that set goes up, everyone is an option to get the kill. Naeve's 3.78 kills per game lead the team, but Farmer, Evan Thatcher, Fred Robins and Mark Williams all average over three kills per game. If one of them is struggling, Matt Davis can come in and perform as well. Davis had 11 kills against Pepperdine, and he helped lead the Bruin comeback.

Conference play has begun, and the Bruins will be highly motivated after their first conference loss of the season.

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