For the second time this week, the UCLA women’s volleyball team has suffered a disappointing three-set sweep.
But this game was disappointing for an entirely different reason.
When the No. 18 Bruins (17-9, 8-7 Pac-12) stepped on their home court at the John Wooden Center to host the still-undefeated No. 1 Stanford Cardinals (26-0, 16-0), they expected to be greeted with hard hits, powerful middle blockers, and strong outside hitters.
Not only did Stanford meet UCLA’s expectations, but also served up three set clinchers, sweeping the match (21-25, 24-26, 22-25).
“We brought good energy today, we just didn’t play our game and show up in clutch plays,” said senior outside hitter Karsta Lowe.
What made this match a whole different kind of disappointing, though, is the Bruins’ ability to hold their own for the entire three sets, yet their inability to stay on top of the Cardinal where it mattered most: the match points.
“We fought hard, but we didn’t execute the little things we needed to,” said coach Michael Sealy. “They’re a physical team, they’re a good volleyball team, they’re going to earn their points, and if we were going to be successful we had to be pretty good on the ball control side of it, and we just were too loose.”
Set one proved to be a shaky start for UCLA, with the Bruins trailing 11-4, then 20-13, the entire time with no ties. Heading into the second set, the Bruins caught a break at the onset, leading 7-3. Despite a kill from Lowe to bring the score to 24-24, the Bruins couldn’t clinch the last two points, falling to Stanford in overtime.
The third set was truly a point-for-point match. A series of back-row digs and front-row kills resulted in 10 overall tie scores and five lead changes. But at the 22-24 match point, a kill from Lowe ended in a quick block from Stanford’s front row and closed out the match.
“We started off a little slow each game, and we were behind,” said sophomore defensive specialist/libero Taylor Formico. “We did well in taking their setter out, which we planned on, so that worked well. We did well and we were scrappy. They’re a good team.”
In the end, a 0.229 hitting percentage just wasn’t enough to take down a 0.310 percentage from the Cardinals. While the Bruins managed to bring up their percentage considerably from earlier this week against Utah, a 0.333 hitting percentage from sophomore middle blocker/outside hitter Claire Felix and 21 kills from Lowe weren’t enough to pull out a win.
Moving forward, the Bruins will spend the weekend practicing at home before facing off against unranked California (8-16, 0-14) on Sunday at the John Wooden Center. Cal’s current 14-game dry spell leaves the Golden Bears hungry for a victory, though their 3-1 loss against UCLA three weeks ago leaves the Bruins hopeful they can end the week on a high note.
“We have to bounce back, shake off this game and get ready for Cal,” Formico said. “Their record isn’t too good, but they’re a good team. Everyone’s good in the (Pac-12), so we have to show up.”