With the Bruins trailing 24-19, up two games in the third set, it appeared that the visiting Women of Troy were going to force this match to become a drawn-out battle.
Luckily for UCLA, there was no fifth-set heartbreaker or late-game collapse this time.
No. 10 UCLA (20-10, 9-9 Pac-10) rallied late in the set, something they have been trying to do all season, won the final seven points and swept No. 11 USC (17-10, 9-9) in an exceptionally dominating performance in the last game of the regular season.
The Bruins jumped ahead fast, winning the first two sets 25-22 and 25-16, but they put the nail in the coffin with the 26-24 third-set win.
It would be an understatement to say that UCLA’s seniors were the key to their own Senior Day victory.
Senior outside hitter Ali Daley was the go-to player for the Bruins all night, recording 15 kills and also accumulating 13 digs in the three sets.
Most importantly though, Daley was the agent through which her team engineered the third-set comeback. Facing set point at 24-23, Daley and freshman middle blocker Amanda Gil blocked a USC kill attempt, and then Daley finished off the match with two consecutive point-ending kills.
“We wanted it so bad and we put out so much heart,” Daley said. “For us to come back from 19-24, shows exactly what we mean by putting out a lot of heart.”
Fellow senior setter Nellie Spicer stepped up to the occasion as well, racking up 33 assists and 11 digs, in addition to six kills of her own that led to a individual hitting percentage of .500.
“It was a great way for them to finish out the regular season and finish out their career here in Pauley,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “Nellie was tremendous putting up the plays and Ali had a great night hitting.”
Heading into the match only a game apart in the conference standings, the two Los Angeles schools were both looking to gain momentum for the postseason. The teams had gone the distance at USC’s Galen Center more than two months ago where the Trojans had pulled out the 3-2 victory. That match would set the tone for most of the season for the Bruins, who went on to lose six of their seven five-set matches.
But on Friday afternoon, it was a different story.
UCLA shut down the Trojans before they could even win a set, refusing to let any USC player to hit double-digit kills.
“We’ve been improving each game and we’ve definitely showed a lot of improvement on being able to … come back and finish games,” Daley said. “That’s what we’ve been looking for from our team is to actually finish hard, and I think we kept a good level of consistency from start to finish.”
Both teams went on runs in a first set that would produce nine ties and five lead changes. Down late, in the first, the Bruins got several big blocks from Gil and freshman outside hitter Katie Camp that prompted a five-point streak and a 24-21 lead that the Bruins would soon put away for good.
The second set epitomized UCLA’s dominance in the match, as UCLA held the lead from wire to wire. The Bruins’ defense held the Trojans to an abysmal .000 hitting percentage and the attack outhit them 15-8 on kills in the set.
USC found some rhythm in the final set, going on a 12-5 run to get to their first set point, but UCLA would finish off the match when the went on the longest run of the day.
“It really gives us a tremendous boost to our confidence to be able to finish them off in three games and to stage that comeback that we did in the third game,” Banachowski said. “I think it says a lot about our ability to not give up and to compete when the odds are stacked against us.”
The Bruins held the Trojans to a .091 hitting percentage, their second lowest of the season. In its numerous matches against ranked teams this season, the Bruins have had problems with consistency, but on Friday afternoon, they were firing on all cylinders.
“First of all, I thought we served excellent,” Banachowski said. “We did a good job getting our blocks set up, so we had a good blocking night. And the ones we didn’t block, we dug. So, I think all of those factors aligned to help keep their hitting percentage down.”
The victory gave UCLA its 10th straight 20-win season and gave its players some much-needed encouragement for a successful postseason run.
“It feels really good,” Daley said. “I can’t even describe it. It feels amazing.”
NCAA TOURNAMENT SEEDING: Now that the regular season is over, the Bruins will turn their focus on their 12th straight NCAA tournament appearance, which begins with LSU (18-9) this Friday night at 8 p.m. at Pauley Pavilion. Last night, UCLA was granted the national No. 14 seed, which means Westwood will host two first round games and a second round matchup. Playing in the Austin Regional bracket, a win against LSU and then another against the winner of the University of San Francisco (22-7) and Duke (24-8) would send the Bruins to Texas for the third round.
The LSU Tigers finished fourth in the Southeastern Conference by winning their last six matches.