NCAA Championship Game Notes
5/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
May 7, 2005
Recap | Box Score | Quotes | Photo Gallery
Notes:
Pepperdine and UCLA, the top two teams in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation final regular season standings, split a pair of regular season matches. UCLA won the first meeting 30-18, 3021, 30-27 on Jan. 19 at Pauley Pavilion on the Bruin campus. Pepperdine claimed the second meeting with a 28-30, 36-34, 30-26, 27-30, 15-13 victory on March 12 at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu.
Pepperdine earned the top seed in this year's NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship after claiming the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation league tournament.
Pepperdine swept the individual postseason superlatives as released by the American Volleyball Coaches Association on May 4. Senior outside hitter Sean Rooney was named to AVCA Division I-II Men's National Player of the Year, while freshman setter Jonathan Winder was named the AVCA Division I-II Men's Newcomer of the Year. Rooney and junior middle blocker Andy Hein were named to the AVCA Division I-II Men's All-America First-Team, while Winder was named to the second team.
Pepperdine has reached the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship for the 13th time.
Pepperdine had lost its last two national championship appearances (2002 and 2003) to teams that have gone on to win the national title only to have the championship vacated. The Waves lost to University of Hawai'i in the 2002 championship match at Penn State, but Hawai'i had the championship stripped by the NCAA. Similarly, Pepperdine lost to Lewis in the 2003 semifinal round at Long Beach State. Lewis went on to defeat Brigham Young in the championship match, but the title earned on the court by NCAA Division II schools was later taken away by the NCAA. In both cases involving Hawai'i and Lewis, the use of ineligible players was cited as a cause for the removal of the national title.
UCLA competed for its 19th overall title and has not been part of the four-team NCAA tournament since 2000. The Bruins remains with 50 victories in the NCAA Tournament matches.
UCLA reached its 24th NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship. The Bruins have won 18 national titles, all under current head coach Al Scates. UCLA last won the NCAA title in 2000 by defeating Ohio State in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Bruins also defeated Pepperdine, the number-one seed in this year's tournament, in 1998 for its second-to-last national title. UCLA is 50-7 overall in the NCAA Tournament.
UCLA has hosted the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship 13 times, but it is the first time since winning the national title in 1996 that the Bruins have participated on its home floor for the national title. UCLA is 25-1 at Pauley Pavilion, site of this year's national championship, in the current four-team national championship format. The Bruins have won nine of their 18 national titles at home.
