It seemed like UCLA had already overcome the bumpy section of its Rocky Mountain road trip.
UCLA began its trip on a high note, finishing its first half of the trip with a 3-0 win over No. 21 Colorado on Thursday and dousing a little bit of the Buffaloes’ hot streak of four wins in five games.
All that was standing between the Bruins and a return to Westwood with a perfect mountain series was a struggling Utah team that had only won one game in its last six.
But that second win never came. Instead, the No. 15 Bruins (17-8, 8-6 Pac-12) fell to the Utes (14-11, 4-10) in three straight sets, and the seventh week of Pac-12 play became the sixth incidence of UCLA splitting its week of conference games.
Karsta Lowe finished the game with an average of 5.67 kills per set, slightly below her No. 1-ranked season average of 5.96. But where the senior outside hitter really underperformed was capitalizing on her chances. Lowe finished the game with a .200 hitting percentage, falling under .325, the number she’d been averaging all season.
While the country’s No. 1 outside hitter seemed to be having an off day, her teammate were unable to pick up the slack, and the Bruins were only able to muster up a .198 hitting percentage that fell short of the Utes’ .250.
On the defensive end of the spectrum, the Bruins once again fell short of their Utah hosts, posting seven total blocks to the Utes’ 13.
After Sunday’s loss against Utah, UCLA now teeters in third place in the Pac-12, a spot shared with No. 11 Oregon and No. 16 Arizona.
With three weeks left in the season, UCLA still has six more chances to improve upon their one-atop .500 conference record before the postseason kicks in.
But with No. 1 Stanford on Thursday being the next game on UCLA’s agenda, the Bruins will have to find their consistency fast.
Compiled by Aubrey Yeo, Bruin Sports senior staff.