WAVES, BRUINS MAY SEE FINAL.Byline: RIZZA YAP University Beat The rivalry isn't over for Pepperdine and UCLA's men's volleyball teams. In all likelihood, the two powerhouses will meet once more before the season ends, as they travel to Hawaii to compete in this week's NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association championship tournament. Beginning tonight in Honolulu's Special Events Arena, Southern California's best will join Lewis University (Romeoville, Ill.), automatic qualifier in the Midwest Region, and Princeton, from the East, in the semifinal round. UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX opens tonight's competition with a 9:30 p.m. PDT PDT abbr. Pacific Daylight Time PDT Pacific Daylight Time PDT n abbr (US) (= Pacific Daylight Time) → hora de verano del Pacífico PDT match against Lewis, followed by Pepperdine vs. Princeton. The NCAA final, which starts at 9:30 p.m. PDT on Saturday, will be shown live by ESPN ESPN Entertainment and Sports Programming Network 2. The Waves (22-4) earned the West Region's automatic berth and the top seed over UCLA (26-4) after erasing a 12-year, 14-match losing streak at Pauley Pavilion in last Saturday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a college athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I. title match. Pepperdine won 15-12, 11-15, 15-4, 15-12, avenging two five-set losses to the Bruins during the regular season. George Roumain, the MPSF MPSF Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Year, led the Waves with 42 kills, two aces, six digs and four blocks against UCLA. He is joined on the All-MPSF first team by UCLA's Adam Naeve and Brandon Taliaferro. Pepperdine's Scott Wong was named the conference's Freshman of the Year. ``George demonstrated why he is one of the college game's top players, but the win over UCLA was a total team effort,'' said Pepperdine coach Marv Dunphy. ``We played tremendous defense and did a much better job on our passing . . and that opened things up for us at the offensive end.'' The Bruins, making their 21st and sixth consecutive appearance in the NCAA tourney, are aiming for a 17th national championship. (UCLA coach Al Scates' 16 titles leads all active NCAA single-sport coaches.) Pepperdine has won four NCAA championships (1978, 1985, 1986, 1992) in eight previous appearances at the tournament. Aloha: The NCAA men's volleyball visit to the islands will be a homecoming of sorts for UCLA's Fred Robins and Pepperdine's Wong, J.J. Riley, Rick Tune, Craig Gamble and Pono Kahale, all from Hawaii. (Tune, in fact, played at the University of Hawaii (body, education) University of Hawaii - A University spread over 10 campuses on 4 islands throughout the state. http://hawaii.edu/uhinfo.html. See also Aloha, Aloha Net. for three years before transferring to Pepperdine in January.) For Dunphy, it's almost like playing at home. ``I have a feeling that we will have some fans at the Special Events Arena cheering for Pepperdine,'' he said. Tracking Seim: Chatsworth High graduate Stephanie Seim helped the Division III Wheaton College (Wheaton, Ill.) women's track and field team win the Beloit Invitational on April 17-18 with a second-place finish in the high jump. KEY MATCHES THIS WEEK Men's Volleyball NCAA semifinals at Special Events Arena, Honolulu No. 2 UCLA vs. No. 6 Lewis, Today, 9:30 p.m. (live on ESPN2) No. 1 Pepperdine vs. No. 11 Princeton, Today, 11:30 p.m. Men's and Women's Track and Field USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. and BYU BYU Brigham Young University BYU Bayou BYU Bob's Your Uncle BYU Bayreuth, Germany - Bindlacher Berg (Airport Code) BYU Beyond Your Understanding at UCLA, Saturday, 11:30 a.m. CAPTION(S): Box BOX: KEY MATCHES THIS WEEK (see text) |
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