Women’s volleyball falters in final season matches, misses NCAA bid

With a final opportunity to add something, anything, new to this season’s narrative, the UCLA women’s volleyball team had nothing but the same old story. UCLA dropped its final two matches of the regular season as it was swept by USC Wednesday before falling to Utah 3-1 Friday.

Both matches were familiar tales for UCLA (15-15, 6-14), which finished the year with the team’s first ever non-winning record. A close four-set loss to the Utes saw the Bruins start hot, only to cool off in the final two frames. UCLA played well enough to be in it to the very end before dropping the final set 25-23. The loss to USC, in which UCLA appeared to be outmatched in nearly every phase of the game, continued the Bruins streak of poor play against the conference’s top echelon.

In both matches, it was a familiar villain – errors – that cost the Bruins. UCLA committed 33 combined errors against USC and 41 two days later against Utah.

“First set it was just our unforced errors. We played really well. We were right with them. Second set it just went downhill from there,” said sophomore libero Karly Drolson following the loss to the Trojans.

UCLA was not only right with USC for the first set of the match, but led the majority of the opening set, leading 18-16 late in the set. However a dormant USC offense awoke in a big way, scoring six straight points before taking the first set 25-22. The Trojans outscored the Bruins 50-24 for the rest of the match, in an overpowering performance.

“We talked about it after the match, that if you bring a knife to a gun fight you better throw the knife,” said coach Michael Sealy. “We played at a high level the first set and then we got passive, we played safe, we missed serves and … in that one little window there was a six-point turnaround and that was it.”

UCLA came away from its match with USC the worse for wear for the second time this season, but not only because of the errors. The Trojans, which Sealy called “a better volleyball team than (UCLA),” overmatched the Bruins in both phases of the game. USC hit the ball noticeably harder than UCLA, giving the Bruins’ defense fits throughout the night. The Trojans flustered the Bruins’ passers throughout, putting them in tough situations and forcing UCLA to play out of system most of the match, Sealy said.

USC’s height, which Sealy noted as a concern prior to the match, also proved difficult for his team to handle. USC repeatedly attacked the middle of the UCLA defense, while its front line frustrated UCLA’s outside hitters. The Bruins hit a paltry .125 for the match.

“(USC’s height) is tough. You don’t always face blocks that big. It definitely kind of limited our shots,” said sophomore outside hitter Maddy Klineman.

This was by no means a storybook season for UCLA. With injuries and close losses throughout the year, the Bruins’ tale resembled a guide on dealing with adversity more than anything else. However, with no NCAA berth awaiting them for the first time in 17 years, the book on this year’s team can finally be shut. UCLA will have to wait until next year to write a new chapter.