Bruin nets career high in USC defeat

Freshman middle blocker Katie Mills cannot get enough use out of the word “great” when describing her teammates on the UCLA women’s volleyball team.

Considering that the Bruins (14-2, 4-1 Pac-10) are the No. 4 team in the country after Friday’s victory over USC (14-2, 3-2 Pac-10), Mills’ description fits right into place.

“Nellie (Spicer) played great, Ali (Daley) had some great kills. Jade (Machado’s) digs were amazing. So we just played great all around,” Mills said about the matchup.

While Mills is quick to attribute the win to all of her teammates, she also played a key role in the match. Mills started the match and played all four games.

While the Trojans were busy making mistakes, Mills was at the net ready to punish every overpass USC sent her way.

On Friday night, Mills accumulated nine kills and a career-high nine blocks. She helped the Bruins set up several successful triple blocks and made her presence known at the net.

While many of her kills came from Trojan overpasses, Mills said she had an easy time putting the ball down when junior setter Nellie Spicer set her up.

“Nellie’s sets were great and the defense was great, which makes my job really easy,” Mills said.

In her first experience against the Trojans, Mills enjoyed the fan support. And after her strong performance in the match, she also had nothing but kind words to describe USC.

“They are a fabulous opponent and it takes a lot of work for us to play them,” she said. “It was a great match. I can’t wait to play them again.”

Along with other freshmen players Dicey McGraw and Meghan Schoen, Mills has seen more and more playing time as the season has progressed. She said that she did not have expectations to become a starter but is happy with the way things turned out.

DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: Spicer and junior outside hitter Ali Daley have had no problems amassing double-doubles this season.

Spicer garnered her sixth consecutive double-double during Friday’s match. With 49 assists and 10 digs, Spicer now has nine double-doubles for the season and 39 in her career. She currently ranks fourth on UCLA’s all-time assists list with 3,820 but is on track to pass former UCLA First-Team All-American Julie Bremner this season.

With 16 kills and 16 digs against USC, Daley has also posted nine double-doubles this season. She has already surpassed her total number of double-doubles from last season, which was six. She also leads UCLA in kills and aces this season.

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