WESTWOOD - After taking the momentum of a 2-0 advantage into Game 3 in Pauley Pavilion on Friday night, the Long Beach State volleyball players looked across the net and, quite frankly, had a difficult time identifying the players in the UCLA uniforms.

That because Bruins coach Al Scates had dipped into his very deep roster "and suddenly we're playing against a bunch of guys we hadn't prepared for," his Long Beach counterpart said afterward, shaking his head.

But Alan Knipe was smiling while shaking his head, because his 49ers, despite some Game 3 struggles, bounced backed assertively in Game 4 and left the building with a 30-27, 30-18, 24-30, 30-28 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory over the No. 4-ranked Bruins.

Long Beach, rated a slot behind UCLA in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 15, improved to 6-0 overall and 4-0 in the MPSF while the Bruins dropped to 5-2 and 3-1.

Senior outside hitter Paul Lotman had a match-high 25 kills for the 49ers, just two nights after he accounted for 17 in his team's MPSF 3-0 victory over defending national champion UC Irvine in the Walter Pyramid.

It's just three weeks into the a long season and the Bruins will get a return match more than two months from now (March 29 in the Walter Pyramid).

But any time an opposing volleyball team can visit Pauley Pavilion and leave with a victory over a program that has won 24 national titles, there's no way to soft-peddle the accomplishment.

"It's a great win, especially since we're now 6-0 and have only played one home match so far," Knipe said after his program's first victory in Pauley in three years.

"But now our next match (in the Walter Pyramid on Jan. 30 against currently second-ranked Pepperdine) becomes our most important match."

After Long Beach blasted a .438 attack percentage (with Lotman getting seven kills and sophomore opposite Dean Bittner four more) to roll in Game 2, Scates put four non-starters on the floor.

It wasn't totally unexpected, since Scates isn't reluctant to mix and match his players, especially this early in a season.

"We didn't know what to expect (with the new faces on the floor) in Game 3," Lotman said, "and we never adjusted."

Those adjustments game in Game 4, especially after Knipe called a timeout after the Bruins jumped out to a 6-3 advantage.

"Once we were able to get our passing going again," Knipe said, "we got back into a nice rhythm."