Bruin Sports reporter
slowe2@media.ucla.edu
The No. 8 UCLA women’s volleyball team has talked about improving its offense all season. Determined to build a faster, stronger and less error-prone front row, the Bruins (12-4, 2-3 Pac-10) finally got the performance they were looking for against Washington State (7-10, 0-6 Pac-10) on Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion.
By sweeping the last-place Cougars 25-22, 25-18, 25-14, the Bruins regain some of the confidence they had before their lackluster start to the Pac-10 season. Just one night before, UCLA lost its home opener in an intense five-game match to No. 10 Washington (13-3, 4-2 Pac-10) in which the Bruins relinquished a 2-1 set lead.
Against Washington State, UCLA found an essential piece of its game that has been missing at times this season. As usual, UCLA had a solid night defensively. As opposed to other times this season, the back row’s efforts did not go unrewarded, as the front line did its job by finishing off rallies. Senior libero Jessica Fine had 15 digs, while senior outside hitter Ali Daley added 12 more. UCLA finished the match with a .345 hitting percentage, posting an impressive .437 in the final two games.
After winning a tight first set and coming back from a four-point deficit in the second, the Bruins’ offense took full control in the final set.
It was a stretch lead by freshman middle blocker Katie Camp that helped to energize the Bruins’ offense. With the score tied 3-3 in the third set, Camp lifted the Bruins with four consecutive kills.
“When she gets up fast, she is unstoppable,” senior setter Nellie Spicer said. “She gets up high, she hits quick, and no one can stop her.”
Recording her second double-double of the weekend, Daley gave the Bruins what they needed when the score was close. Trailing 0-4 in the second game, Daley tallied two kills to single-handedly cut the Cougars’ lead in half.
“As a leader on the team, you have to be able to come out and be consistent,” Daley said. “Being an older player and knowing the game, I can help (my teammates) a lot by being consistent.”
On Friday night, UCLA fell just short of a victory over the Huskies with set scores of 23-25, 25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 11-15. In front of their first home crowd of the season, the Bruins were not able to contain Washington’s sophomore outside hitter Becky Perry, who finished the night with 33 kills.
“Their outside attack was pretty phenomenal,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “She’s tall, she jumps well, and she has a nice long arm swing. We can’t let her do that again or else we are going to end up with the same result.”
Washington was also able to out-block the Bruins, with a total of 12.5 team blocks, compared to UCLA’s eight. According to Banachowski, the team’s blocking is still another area in need of improvement.
After splitting another series in conference play this week, UCLA is currently in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Pac-10. Despite some early setbacks, the Bruins know the challenge of competing in this conference.
“The Pac-10 is as tough as always,” Daley said. “We need to expect that.”