Click
here to see a DBTV FEATURE VIDEO about this game. Down 2-0
to the No. 4 Washington Huskies, the UCLA women’s volleyball
team was all but dead. The Bruins were being outhustled, outworked
and outplayed as they headed to the locker room between games.
That’s something that coach Andy Banachowski wasn’t
going to allow to continue. “I told the team that they
weren’t playing the way they were capable of,”
Banachowski said. “Is this what they wanted to let the fans
see?” In storybook fashion, a rejuvenated Bruin squad came
out of the locker room, got the crowd back into the match with a
dominating third game, and held off furious Husky rallies in games
4 and 5 to cap a thrilling 28-30, 23-30, 30-21, 31-29, 15-13
victory. In the end, it was not a bad way to start off the home
season. “This (match) was something we’ve been looking
forward to since the beginning of August,” senior outside
hitter Katie Carter said. “Every day that we practice, every
long road trip we take, we’re all still thinking about that
first home game in the back of our minds because that’s what
we’re trying to get better for, to play for (the
fans).” With the win over the Huskies (12-2, 2-1 Pac-10), the
No. 3 Bruins (16-0, 3-0) extended their winning streak to 16 games
to begin the season. But the match was by far the toughest
challenge for the Bruins in the early season. Coming into this
match, UCLA had only dropped two games in the entire season. Not
only did the Bruins have to come back from a 2-0 deficit against
Washington, but they had to stave off points in the last two games
in instances where it looked liked the Huskies were about to take
the momentum. A 29-21 lead is virtually insurmountable in
women’s college volleyball, yet the Bruins let the Huskies
come back from that deficit in the fourth game. Washington rallied
off eight straight points to tie the game at 29-29 and edge two
points away from winning the match. But the Bruins finally won a
point on junior Rachell Johnson’s kill, and Ali Daley, who
had a very rough overall night, made amends by putting Game 4 away
with a kill. “There’s no excuse for us giving up eight
points like that,” Banachowski said. “You think its
just a matter of time before the law of averages has to work in
your favor. I think we might have relaxed and already moved on to
the fifth game, which was a huge mistake.” Carter, who led
the team with 23 kills for the match, opened up Game 5 with a
driving kill and the Bruins opened up a 4-0 lead. But once again,
the Huskies closed the gap and were within one point of tying the
game at 14-13. But senior middle blocker Nana Meriwether, who
played a flawless Game 5, finally closed the door on the Husky
rally and the Bruins celebrated. “A big relief,”
Meriwether said of her emotions after the match ended.
“They’re a very good comeback team and we were all
really stressed out on the bench. We realized, we gotta just put
this away.” And for the second time in as many years, the
Bruins did just that against the defending national champion
Huskies, creating yet another memory for the ages. “We live
for moments like this,” Carter said.
MEHRING STEPS UP: The Bruins were struggling
mightily in games one and two to get production out of sophomore
hitters Kaitlin Sather and Daley, two very reliable players for the
Bruins so far this season. So in Game 3, Banachowski decided to
make a change. The coach went with junior Becky Mehring at outside
hitter, and Mehring didn’t disappoint in her first home match
for the Bruins in two years. “Becky Mehring came in and
played a great match for us. Anything we got out of Becky’s
swings was going to be good. She really turned it on.”
Mehring, whose husband and child were both on hand for her return
after a year away from the team, finished the match with eight big
kills in the final three games. “She was someone who took the
edge off really well (after the first two games),” Carter
said. “She came in and was just so relaxed.”
UP NEXT: The Bruins look to keep their
undefeated record alive tonight against Washington State (12-5,
0-3). The Cougars lost 3-1 to USC on Thursday night. The match
takes place at 7 p.m. in Pauley Pavilion.