Making Waves
Top-ranked Pepperdine downed host UCLA in Pauley Pavilion to win the 2005 NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship.
By Mike Miazga
Los Angeles—When asked about the fact
UCLA was 25-0 all-time in NCAA tournament play at Pauley Pavilion, Pepperdine
coach Marv Dunphy, who also tries to avoid comparing former teams and players
to each other, put things into perspective.
"I'm not really one to look back and make some voodoo out of it," he said.
"It's not where you are, it's who you are."
But Dunphy did let the past slip into the 2005 NCAA national championship
match when the marbles were on the line in Game 5 against that very UCLA team
with the 25-0 tournament record in the house John (Wooden) and Al (Scates)
made famous.
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Pep's John Mayer (left) and Tom Hulse on the block |
"I usually don't do this, but I told them we had to feel good about Game
5," said Dunphy, whose team was 6-0 up to that point in matches that went the
distance. "The guys knew our record in games that went five."
The Waves went on to make it 7-0 in five-gamers after bombarding UCLA in
the rubber game to win the 2005 NCAA National Men's Collegiate Volleyball
Championship by a 3-2 count in a match that took 152 minutes to complete and
was witnessed by a vociferous crowd of 6,853 in Pauley.
Pepperdine (25-2), which trailed 2- 1 heading into Game 4, won its fifth
NCAA men's title and first since 1992. The Waves were making their third
championship match appearance in the last eight years and first since 2002.
Pepperdine's five titles are the second-most in NCAA history.
UCLA (26-6) was looking for its record 19th national title under the
legendary Scates. The Bruins, the third seed in the event, were making their
record 24th title match appearance and first since 2001.
"To go out and win a championship in Pauley Pavilion is something I can't
describe," said Pepperdine standout Sean Rooney, who was named the
tournament's most outstanding player. "Playing in front of a crowd this big,
it couldn't be more perfect."
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UCLA's Paul Johnson blocks Andy Hein |
"We played a good team with a good history. It was an exciting match,"
said Dunphy. "This is well-earned and well-deserved."
Pepperdine left no doubt in Game 5, powering out to an 8-1 lead. UCLA hit
negative .100 in the finale, committing eight hitting errors. The Bruins
could get no closer than three points as the Waves capped off a 30-23, 23-30,
24-30, 30-25, 15-10 victory.
"In Game 5 we fought back, but in rally point it's too overwhelming to be
behind seven points," said Scates. "It's nearly impossible to come back.
Supposedly we weren't good enough to be here. I'm proud of our team. If you
lose in the NCAA finals, they are all tough. It doesn't matter where you are
playing, it's tough."
Rooney, who ended the match by finding an opening in the middle back off a
Jonathan Winder set, led Pepperdine with 26 kills (hitting .321) and finished
with 45 kills in the two matches and ended with 2,007 for his career. John
Parfitt added 18 kills (.350), while Tom Hulse had six blocks. Winder, a
freshman setter, had 52 assists and directed the team to a .315 hitting
percentage.
UCLA, which overcame myriad injuries throughout the season, was paced by
senior Jonathan Acosta's 29 kills on 44 swings (hitting .523). Senior Kris
Kraushaar added 16 kills, while senior Paul Johnson had 11 kills, four aces
and three blocks.
"This was a great atmosphere," said Kraushaar. "I love playing in front of
a great crowd. It would have been nice to come away with the win, but this
was fun."
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Paul Johnson hit .471 against Penn State. |
National Semifinal
UCLA d. Penn State 30-20, 30-24, 30-27
UCLA, making its record 24th NCAA appearance, quickly put all of the talk
about the merits of its selection to the tournament to rest with this
impressive dismantling of No. 2 seed Penn State.
"It was a great all-around performance by the Bruins," said Scates.
UCLA hit .353 as a team and held a 102-84 swings advantage over Penn
State.
The Bruins also had eight service aces and 9.5 team blocks to complete a
dominating performance. The Bruins were paced by senior opposite hitter
Brennan Prahler, a late starting lineup addition. Prahler, a former soccer
player from Hawaii who had played in only 28 of the team's 112 games prior to
the Penn State match, had a match-high 17 kills.
"I was ready to go," said Prahler. "We really haven't had a set lineup this
year. You just have to be ready and I was."
Acosta added 16 kills and hit at a .500 clip. Senior opposite hitter Allan
Vince, playing on a sprained ankle, had eight kills and four aces.
"There's not enough to say about a guy like Allan who plays with a sprained
ankle," said Acosta. "He stepped up big."
Penn State, which lost for the seventh straight year in the national
semifinals, was paced by 11 kills each from sophomore outside hitter Alex
Gutor and junior outside hitter Matt Proper. The Nittany Lions finished the
season 30-4 and had a 14-match winning streak snapped (last loss was also to
UCLA on March 8).
"This was far from as well as we can play," said Penn State coach Mark
Pavlik.
"UCLA flat outplayed us," said Penn State senior middle blocker Keith
Kowal. "They stepped up and beat us and that's what it all comes down
to."
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Pep's Sean Rooney |
National Semifinal
Pepperdine d. Ohio State 30-16, 31-29, 30-26
Top-seeded Pepperdine used a commanding Game 1 performance en route to
defeating fourth-seeded Ohio State in the second national semifinal.
The Waves hit .409 in the first game and prospered from Ohio State's .028
Game 1 hitting percentage (12 hitting errors) and six service errors resulting
in 18 Pepperdine points. Pepperdine scored a total of 37 points alone off
Ohio State hitting or serving errors.
Rooney, the consensus national player of the year, led Pepperdine with 19
kills. Parfitt added 11 kills and the Waves made just eight hitting errors on
101 swings. Pepperdine also held a 10.5-3.0 blocks advantage over the
Buckeyes.
"The thing Sean Rooney does well and that whole team does well is they
don't make errors," said Ohio State senior 6'10" middle blocker Scott
Spurlock.
"You get right down to the total box score. They made eight spike errors
and we made 25. That's a significant difference," said Ohio State coach Pete
Hanson. "But I like they way our guys competed in Games 2 and 3. Once we
settled down, we proved we deserved to be here too."
Junior outside hitters Mark Greaves (14 kills) Andy Cole (12 kills) led
Ohio State (24-8), which was in the national semifinals for a 14th time and
first since 2001.
Past NCAA Champions
1970: UCLA 1971: UCLA 1972: UCLA 1973: San Diego St. 1974: UCLA 1975: UCLA
1976: UCLA 1977: USC 1978: Pepperdine 1979: UCLA 1980: USC 1981: UCLA 1982:
UCLA 1983: UCLA 1984: UCLA 1985: Pepperdine 1986: Pepperdine 1987: UCLA 1988:
USC 1989: UCLA 1990: USC 1991: Long Beach St. 1992: Pepperdine 1993: UCLA
1994: Penn State 1995: UCLA 1996: UCLA 1997: Stanford 1998: UCLA 1999: BYU
2000: UCLA 2001: BYU 2002: Vacated 2003: Vacated 2004: BYU 2005:
Pepperdine
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