Spikers pound ‘SC
UCLA defeats
Trojans, 3-2, to
continue streak
By Eric Branch
Daily Bruin Staff
Before the season began, Annett Buckner and Jenny Johnson were
named co-captains of the UCLA women’s volleyball team. Wednesday
night in Pauley Pavilion, 2,047 fans found out why.
Both Buckner, the Bruins senior outside hitter, and Johnson, a
junior outside hitter, picked the same night to enjoy monster games
as the No. 4 Bruins (16-2 overall, 6-1 in the Pacific-10) rose from
the dead to haunt the No. 15 USC Trojans (10-4, 4-3) for the 14th
consecutive time, 13-15, 9-15, 16-14, 15-13, 15-9.
The co-captains picked an opportune night because the Bruins
needed all the help they could get. In the 2 hour 36 minute match,
which saw the Bruins facing match point in the third frame with USC
serving at 14-12, Buckner posted an astonishing career-high of 37
kills while Johnson also enjoyed a career-best 27 kills. Johnson
also added a game high 19 digs.
"I thought I played well," Buckner said. "But right now I’m on
an emotional high because we got the win. I wanted to go through my
senior year without the Trojans beating us and I’m just relieved we
pulled it out."
After the Bruins jumped out to a promising 11-3 first game lead,
things turned ugly in an alarming hurry. The Trojans ran off six
consecutive points on sophomore middle blocker Kristi Olson’s
serves, which included three aces, and then finished off the game
with another ace by freshman outside hitter Jeanne Vetter.
Southern Cal used the momentum of the first game comeback to
snatch the second frame behind six kills by senior outside hitter
Meika Wagner (17 kills).
"There were a lot of things I wasn’t happy with in the first two
games," UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski said. "We were passing and
serving terribly. Fortunately we hung in there and didn’t give
up."
The Bruins chose to wait until the last possible minute before
finding a cure, which proved to be Buckner. After sophomore setter
Kelly Flannigan (69 assists) fooled the Trojans with a quick kill
off the set for a sideout at 12-14, two Trojan hitting errors
knotted the frame. From there, the Buckner show accelerated into
fifth gear.
Three successive Buckner kills preserved the tie for the Bruins,
and her ace gave UCLA the 16-15 lead. Sophomore middle blocker Kim
Krull’s two-time cross court set into a vacated Trojan left corner
sealed the comeback.
"I decided we weren’t losing that game," Johnson said. "I never
thought for a minute we were going to lose that game."
In the fourth frame, Johnson traded roles with Buckner in
keeping the seven year reign over the Trojans alive. Down 13-12,
Johnson wiped a kill off the Trojan block for a sideout, and then
aced the Trojans with a serve that just nicked the baseline. At
13-13, Johnson’s dig of a Wagner smash flew back over the net
untouched and scored an improbable point. Freshman outside hitter
Kara Milling (17 digs) finished the frame with a spike off the
Trojan block.
The Trojans, perhaps feeling the weight of a seven-year curse,
had little fight left in the final, rally-scoring frame. Fittingly,
five of the Bruins last six points were scored by their
co-captains. Three Johnson kills, a roof by Buckner and a Buckner
laser down the heart of the Trojan defense sealed the comeback.
"Those two won the game for us," Krull said. "Annett is always
amazing, but it was great that Jenny was unbelievable tonight too.
It was a great win."