COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: UCLA REACHES MPSF FINAL.

Byline: FRANK BURLISON Staff Writer

IRVINE - The UCLA volleyball is peaking at the right time.

And it really didn't have any other choice.

Only 5-9 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and 12-12 overall a month and a half ago - and in danger of missing the conference tournament - the Bruins rolled to their 11th victory in a row Thursday night, sweeping third-ranked Pepperdine, 30-26, 30-28 and 30-23, in a MPSF Tournament semifinal at the Bren Center.

Coach Al Scates' team (23-12) on Saturday night will take on No. 2 Long Beach State, which upset top-ranked UC Irvine 30-26, 30-20, 30-23, for the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships next week at Penn State.

Pepperdine, the 2005 national champion, finished 17-8.

Junior outside hitter Paul George led four Bruins in double figures with 16 kills as his team hit .379 for the night and didn't hit less than .312 in any of the games.

The Bruins stunned then No. 2-ranked Hawaii in Honolulu in four games last Saturday, and showed the mainland crowd exactly why while jumping out to a 13-7 edge in Game 1 Thursday and never really giving anyone the sense that there was any chance they wouldn't be back in the Bren Center on Saturday.

"This was not our best match of the season, but they had a lot to do with that," Pepperdine Coach Marv Dunphy said.

Thursday's match was the first, in reality, that the Bruins had been at full strength all season.

Opposite Steve Klosterman has finally rounded into top shape after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery ("We can set him 50 times a match now if we want to," Scates said) and setter Dennis Gonzalez (48 assists and six digs) made his first start in 12 matches after being hobbled by a high ankle sprain.

"Obviously, (Gonzalez) was ready to go tonight," Scates said. "He ran the whole show."

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