A night after the five-game slugfest against defending national
champion Washington, the women’s volleyball team was all but
energized going into the bout with Washington State on Friday.
It took the Bruins (17-0, 4-0 Pac-10) over two games to find
that extra surge of intensity to overcome the feisty Cougars (12-6,
0-4), who stretched the match to four games. A smaller, less
energetic crowd of 1,037 cheered on UCLA to a 30-17, 24-30, 30-21,
30-26 victory in Pauley Pavilion.
After taking on No. 4 Washington on Thursday, it was difficult
for the No. 3 Bruins to stay focused on Washington State, who is
currently winless and in ninth place in the Pac-10. Physically and
mentally drained, the Bruins found themselves playing down to the
Cougars’ level.
“It was very likely that this was going to happen, a huge
emotional win and then you play a team that’s not as good and
play to their level,” said senior Katie Carter, who led the
Bruins with 16 kills on the night. “We definitely thought it
was coming, but we just weren’t really ready for
it.”
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Despite UCLA’s less-inspired play, the Bruins cruised to a
13-point victory in Game 1. Junior Becky Mehring, who was given the
nod to start after her solid performance against Washington, led
the way in the first set with six kills.
Still on cruise control, the Bruins began the second set with
intentions of making the night a short one for the Cougars. But the
Cougars were not about to let that happen.
Down 17-20, Washington State kept UCLA at a stand still,
knocking off point after point. Not even two Bruin timeouts could
slow down the Cougars, and in the blink of an eye, the underdogs
had taken an eight-point 28-20 lead on an 11-point scoring run. The
Bruins were unable to counter that attack, however, and committed
numerous unforced errors in an attempt to get back into the
game.
“I thought we did a decent job in the first game, and I
think they thought that that was going to be enough to carry them
through the match,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said.
“Washington State really came to life pretty
well.”
“The second game we kind of thought we had it in the bag,
which we didn’t get,” Carter said. “We were
struggling a little bit.”
Regrouped and determined, the Bruins came out of the mid-match
break with a new lineup. Meghan Schoen took the place of a
struggling Rachell Johnson, and Ali Daley provided a spark on the
outside.
“They came in and took a lot of really strong, smart
swings and it really picked us up because that’s what we
needed,” Mehring said. “We needed some big kills to get
the momentum going again.”
With Schoen and Daley shouldering the load, UCLA was able to
cruise to a 30-21 win, making sure not to let this game slip away
like Game 2 had. Together, the pair combined for eight kills in
Game 3.
“We have some good depth,” Banachowski said.
“It was a good chance for Meghan to get some play. It’s
nice to see how well she’s become. Ali didn’t play well
(against Washington), so it’s good to see her get in the mix
and play like she’s been playing before.”
Game 4 saw a new level of enthusiasm and excitement from the
Bruins. On the verge of sealing the match, UCLA needed a spark to
keep the Cougars from stealing another game. And that spark came
from senior captain Carter.
Up by only one point at 25-24 with the Cougars at their heels,
Carter pounded down the Bruins’ final four kills to end the
long and draining match.
“It was very relieving to get those kills after a night of
getting blocked a lot and just not really connecting well,”
Carter said. “It was a good feeling to end on that
note.”