W. volleyball wins ugly over UCSB
Bruins grind out 3-1 win despite hitting only .195 for match
aily Bruin Staff
Tuesday night’s volleyball match between No. 3 UCLA and No. 10
UC Santa Barbara at Pauley Pavilion will probably never be used as
a how-to-play-volleyball instructional video.
The Bruins (21-2 overall, 11-1 in Pacific-10) finally prevailed
after one hour and 50 minutes, winning an ugly one over the Gauchos
(19-3) 15-10, 10-15, 15-5, 16-14 to extend their winning streak to
six games.
"I don’t think we gave a consistent effort tonight," UCLA head
coach Andy Banachowski said. "We started off playing hard but at
some point we lost it. You can do that against some teams, but not
against Santa Barbara."
The match was filled with a bevy of errors, with the two teams
combining for 23 service errors. Neither team blew the other away
with their hitting, as UCLA hit a paltry .195 with Santa Barbara
close behind at .184.
The Bruins took the first game, mightily assisted by an uptight
Gaucho squad. Eight of the Bruin’s 15 points came off of Gaucho
errors while senior outside hitter Annett Buckner contributed the
first four of her match-high 21 kills in the frame.
However, the momentum was short lived as the Gauchos grabbed the
second game, aided by a match-high 10 hitting errors by the
Bruins.
"It would be one thing to be playing our best and get beat, but
we weren’t (playing our best)," junior outside hitter Jenny Johnson
said. "There’s only so many mistakes you can make before a team
starts rolling over you."
After the Bruins grabbed the third game behind four kills from
sophomore middle blocker Kim Krull (16 kills, .364 hitting
percentage) and an anemic .056 hitting game by the UCSB, the
Gauchos seemed prepared to extend the match to five games.
UCSB took a 8-4 lead in the fourth game before Banachowski
inserted freshman setter Kim Coleman for sophomore Kelly Flannigan
(51 assists).
"I just hoped it would give the team a little jump start,"
Banachowski said. "Kim is bigger than Kelly and it gave us a little
bigger block on that side."
Banachowski’s strategy did not pay immediate dividends. The
Gauchos reached game-point at 14-9 before the Bruins emerged from
their haze. The comeback began innocently enough, as Krull and
freshman outside hitter Kara Milling combined to roof UCSB hitter
Heather Collins, who led the Gauchos with19 kills.
After an exchange of sideouts, the Bruins reeled off the last
six points of the night off of Milling’s serve. Included in the run
were two Krull kills and a pair of block assists. At 15-14, Krull
and Coleman dunked a Collins spike straight down to seal the
comeback.
"It was nice we caught fire at the end to make it exciting for
the fans," Banachowski said. "We gave a really good effort and made
some great plays."
Johnson led the Bruins with16 digs while Buckner served a match
high four aces. Senior middle blocker Alyson Randick and Krull each
added a team-high four block assists.
"We were kind of scattered brained all night," Johnson said.
"But it’s always good to come back when your down like that."