Bruins stampede Matadors

Published: Wednesday, January 31, 1996

Intimidation factor high as UCLA sweeps Northridge

By Ruben Gutierrez

Daily Bruin Staff

Prior to Tuesday's volleyball match at Cal State Northridge, UCLA head coach Al Scates said that his squad would not be intimidated by a raucous Northridge crowd. At the Matadome, the No. 2 Bruins instead played the role of intimidator, especially at net where UCLA outblocked Northridge 13-7 en route to a 15-2, 15-12, 15-9 sweep.

"We won, and that is the main thing," Scates said. "Also, our blocking has improved since Hawaii. I thought our blocking was the best that it has been and that carried us."

UCLA (4-1 overall, 1-0 Mountain Sports Pacific Federation) dominated the first game from the opening whistle. After falling behind 5-0, it seemed the Matadors (3-3, 2-1 MPSF) had finally secured a sideout to end a UCLA run. Instead, the ball deflected high off of a Bruin defender, struck a basketball backboard and stayed in play. UCLA scored on the exchange and coasted the rest of the way. In a preview of what was in store for CSUN, sophomore quick hitter Tom Stillwell scored a sideout and UCLA's last two points in the first game, a 15-2 goring of the Matadors.

Stillwell had a match-high eight kills for UCLA, but his biggest contribution came on the defensive side of the net, where he recorded eight digs and nine block assists, more than the entire CSUN squad combined.

"This is the best I've seen Tom block, in practice, in a match situation, any time," Scates said. "He has a great vertical jump. From a standing jump, he gets his head well over the net every time. He often gets hit in the face with the ball if he makes the wrong move. He can get armpits over every time."

The next two games were closer as Northridge knotted the second game at eight apiece. The Matadors scored four straight points to give UCLA a battle at 14-12 before senior swing hitter Brian Wells put one away to give UCLA a 2-0 lead in the match.

Wells came through again in the final game, sending down a kill at match point. On the evening, Wells had eight kills for the Bruins on a .263 attack percentage. Freshman quick hitter Dan Farmer hit a match-high .417, putting away seven kills in 12 attempts.

Due to injuries, Scates has juggled his lineup in the early season and elected to go with the group of starters he used throughout last weekend's Outrigger Tournament. After Tuesday's showing, it appears that any UCLA combination will be hard to stop.

"I just want to win," Stillwell said. "As long as we win, we're happy with any combination."

FRED HE/Daily Bruin

Sophomore Tom Stillwell had a match-high eight kills Tuesday.

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