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Junior opposite Steve Klosterman had a team-high 16 kills and hit .387 to help UCLA defeat Long B

IRVINE — If there was any doubt, it’s over. Officially.

These Bruins are for real, and they are going to the Final Four.

Entering the MPSF conference tournament as the No. 7 seed, the UCLA men’s volleyball team completed its improbable run by defeating No. 4 Long Beach State 24-30, 30-28, 30-23, 30-24 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship Saturday night.

With the victory, the Bruins (24-12) earned the conference’s automatic berth to this week’s NCAA Championships at Penn State.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s a feeling I almost can’t describe,” junior Paul George said. “To be where we were at earlier in the season, and now to be playing for the national title – it’s the reason you come to UCLA and work so hard.”

In front a large UCLA contingent at UC Irvine’s Bren Events Center, the Bruins showed how different they were than the team that started 5-10 in conference play and was in ninth place in MPSF standings.

They came out with a level of aggression and intensity that has defined their current 12-match winning streak.

The Bruins were diving into press row for loose balls and taking blocks off their heads for any sort of advantage.

“They took it to us on a different level,” 49ers coach Al Knipe said. “They had incredible energy and intensity, and we just couldn’t match it.”

The Bruins, however, were lacking that energy at the beginning of Game 1. The 49ers (23-10) recorded four early blocks, and the Bruins weren’t ready.

The Bruins fell behind 18-10 and they couldn’t recover.

“We were spending too much time worrying about what they we’re doing and not focusing on ourselves,” junior opposite Steve Klosterman said. “Once we started playing our own game, then we were able to take control of the match.”

In the second game, the Bruins started going to the veterans, George and redshirt senior Nick Scheftic, who have carried them during their recent streak.

George had five kills on eight swings, and with the Bruins down 25-24 and in danger of falling to a 2-0 deficit, made a stretch of three consecutive serves that turned the match around for the Bruins.

The Bruins won Game 2, 30-28, and the match was never really in doubt after that.

“I think that really was the difference,” senior setter Dennis Gonzalez said. “Paul was starting to put balls away, and that gave us some much-needed momentum.”

Scheftic, meanwhile, started to put away some of his own sets and gave the Bruins some unexpected help from the middle blocker position.

Scheftic finished the match with 13 kills and a match-high .524 hitting percentage.

It was a big output for Scheftic, considering he had been outplayed by the 49ers in their earlier matchups this season and was in his first year of playoff competition, only seeing minimal play during his first three years with the Bruins.

“We’re just trying to play our best right now,” Scheftic said. “What we did earlier this season doesn’t really matter because we’re a completely different team.”

Combined, Scheftic and George’s performance was able to overcome the exceptional performance of 49er outside hitter Norm Hutton, who finished with a match-high 27 kills.

Hutton was feeding off the setting of the 49ers’ first-team All-American setter Tyler Hildebrand, but only one other Long Beach player finished with double-digit kills.

Part of the reason was the Bruins’ seven blocks and the 49ers’ hesitance around the net.

“You could really see that they were scared out there,” Klosterman said. “They started trying to do little tips and dumps, and that’s when you make mistakes.”

As a result, it will be the Bruins, not the 49ers, who will be representing the MPSF in this week’s NCAA Final Four.

On Sunday the Bruins were awarded the No. 2 seed out of the four teams and will face Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne in the earlier semifinal on Thursday.

But on Saturday, the Bruins didn’t care about anything regarding their seeding. They were just happy to continue their magic season and have the chance to play for the national title – a lot more than they could have expected earlier this season.

“I don’t care where we are playing. It could be Penn State, European State, Japanese State, I don’t care,” Gonzalez said. “We are playing for the national title, and there isn’t anything else you could ask for.”

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