So this is the team the Bruins were meant to be.
In the most exciting and closely contested match of the season,
UCLA fell just short of upsetting two-time defending national
champion USC 31-29, 30-28, 23-30, 21-30, 18-16. Now, unless the two
teams meet in the NCAA Tournament, four Bruin seniors will end
their careers without a victory over the Trojans.
But as heartbreaking as the loss was, USC seems to have awaken
the sleeping giant within the Bruins.
Down two games to none, UCLA suddenly found lightning in a
bottle, storming back to not only take two games but utterly
dominate the Trojans along the way. In a hotly contested fifth
game, the Bruins squandered three opportunities to close out the
match, letting what could have been one of the most emotional
victories in school history slip through their fingers.
“We had it. We know it, they know it too,” sophomore
Becky Green said. “We owned them.”
“I feel really crappy that we lost,” coach Andy
Banachowski said. “I know (the players) are heartbroken right
now, but I’m not going to let the loss spoil it. That was
just a great match.”
The crowd of about 2,000 in Pauley Pavilion made enough noise to
make it seem as though 10,000 people had come to watch No. 16 UCLA
(15-9, 8-6 Pac-10) finally break through against No. 6 USC (16-4,
11-3). But early on, the Bruins came out playing the same kind of
volleyball they’ve played through most of the year: decent,
but not good enough.
Down 0-2, the Bruins went into the locker room for the break,
and emerged from there as a team with renewed purpose, energy and
passion. UCLA torched USC in the third game, hitting .357 as a
team.
In the fourth game, the Bruins absolutely scorched a bewildered
Trojan squad unused to being on the other side of a beating. UCLA
hit an astonishing .425 to the Trojan’s .154. Sophomore Nana
Meriwhether served a 7-0 run to put UCLA up 10-3, while sophomore
Colby Lyman had an incredible flow going on offense, notching seven
kills without an error.
“Colby came in and I had her go across the front,”
Banachowski said. “That was a changeup for them, it was
something they’d never seen before. She played incredibly
well.”
USC nabbed the early momentum in the fifth game 4-1, but because
of timely hitting by Green and Lyman, the Bruins came back to tie
it at 11-11. And that’s when things really got
interesting.
Back and forth they went, but then the Trojans served wide,
giving UCLA a match point at 14-13. With the raucous crowd on its
feet, the two teams began to rally, and it appeared that
USC’s setter mishandled the ball. The referee, Joe Sloate,
didn’t make the call, which would have given the Bruins the
match. UCLA eventually lost that point, and senior Chrissie Zartman
became infuriated, earning herself a yellow card for the outburst.
“That was just a horrible non-call, I couldn’t believe
it,” Zartman said, who set a new career high with 36
digs.
“He didn’t want to call it at that point in the
match, but it doesn’t matter,” Green said.
“It was horrible.”
Even with the apparent missed call, UCLA still had its chances.
Up 15-14, Green’s kill attempt went wide. UCLA gave itself
another chance after senior Krystal McFarland snuck a kill around
USC’s block, but at match point Zartman served long. Tied at
16-16, Green missed another kill just wide, and the Trojans
finished it off with a kill by Staci Venski.
“We had three opportunities, and that’s been our
falling all year,” Banachowski said.
It is ironic that in a losing effort UCLA would play its best
match of the season. If the team builds toward the postseason using
the momentum gained from this match, then the Bruins are definitely
peaking at the right time of the season. And perhaps the seniors
will indeed get one more chance to finally take down the
Trojans.
“We finally played the way we should’ve played all
season,” said senior Brittany Ringel, who had 16 kills.
“This is where we need to be. The committee always finds a
way for things like (meeting USC again) to happen. I hope I get one
more chance.”