By Grace Wen
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The trip to the desert was not a pleasant one for the UCLA
women’s volleyball team.
On Friday night, the No. 11 Bruins (11-4, 3-1 Pacific-10)
dropped a five game match to Arizona (12-3, 3-2), ending their
Pac-10 winning streak. In front of a crowd of 1,974 at McKale
Center, the Bruins lost 15-6, 10-15, 15-2, 2-15, 7-15 to the
Wildcats.
"(It was) a sloppy match," UCLA Head Coach Andy Banachowski
said. "We just did not play very well. In game one, Arizona made a
lot of errors that we capitalized on. In the second game there were
lots of errors. Games three and four were reversals. Everything we
did was right or wrong."
Game five was all about the Wildcats, who jumped to a 9-1 lead
and were up by 11 points when they reached match point. UCLA would
score three more points, but it wouldn’t be enough as Arizona upset
the 11th ranked Bruins.
Neither team hit especially well, as UCLA hit only .170, just
slightly better than Arizona’s .109. Middle blocker Kim Krull had
seven kills and six errors in the match, giving her a .048 attack
percentage.
Outside hitters led the team as freshman Lyn Embree and junior
Tanisha Larkin each had 11 kills. The best hitting performance came
from UCLA’s setter, Kim Coleman, who posted seven kills in 12
attempts, a .417 clip, while recording 43 assists. Barb Bell of
Arizona notched 18 kills to lead all hitters.
Traditionally a strong blocking team, UCLA was surprisingly
outblocked 14.5 to 7 by Arizona. Erin Aldrich did most of the
damage for her team, tallying 10 blocks while spiking seven kills.
According to Banachowski, Aldrich played well and put away key
balls in the match.
* * *
In a match that coach Andy Banachowski called a "carbon copy" of
the previous night, UCLA turned the tables to defeat Arizona State
(7-5, 2-4) 15-8, 10-15, 15-7, 6-15, 15-9.
"We played well in the first game and let Arizona State make the
mistakes," Banachowski said. "In the second game we got sloppy but
we had a good aggressive third game. In the fifth game we played
huge, with real good hitting and blocking."
In this match, however, Kim Krull led the attack with 19 kills
and 22 digs. But despite leading all hitters, Krull also had the
most errors.
"She led in kills but had 14 errors," Banachowski said. "We’re
giving her the ball a lot. She wasn’t connecting very well. (Kim)
Coleman is working on connecting with her."
Freshman middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman posted 14 kills and
seven blocks, breaking her two-match hitting slump. Junior Tanisha
Larkin recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 16 digs.
For the second night in a row, the Bruins were outblocked
(12-14) and outdug (77-91). ASU’s Terri Cox posted similar numbers
to Krull, leading the Sun Devils with 18 kills and 20 digs.
"We did a pretty good job of keeping Terri Cox under control,"
Banachowski said. "She did a great job of keeping Arizona in the
match. We got some blocks on her when we needed it."
Playing for the first time in two weeks, sophomore Chaska Potter
was back in the lineup for UCLA. Potter struggled, hitting seven
kills but also recording seven errors. Despite the .000 hitting
percentage, Banachowski was pleased with Potter’s overall
performance, stating that she had passed well and played pretty
well overall.
* * *
Although UCLA dropped a game in conference play, the Bruins are
still in contention for the Pac-10 title. On Friday night,
perennial powerhouse Stanford nearly lost a five game set to
California, who is currently tied for last in the Pac-10. The
Cardinal squeaked by in the fifth game by a score of 18-16 to
remain undefeated.
"We could’ve done ourselves a real big favor by winning both
games," Banachowski said. "But there’s a saying that goes, ‘you
have to split on the road to win.’"