LONG BEACH, Calif. — It was an every-other-set kind of night for UCLA women’s volleyball.
No. 11 UCLA (9-1) dominated in the odd sets, but struggled in the even ones en route to a 3-1 victory against Long Beach State (5-5) Wednesday.
“I think we came out really strong and lit their fire, so they came back and lit our fire and we were just the ones that were able to keep it lit longer,” said senior outside hitter Jordan Anderson.
UCLA entered the match having dropped five of its last seven first sets, but jumped out in front of Long Beach State early with a 25-17 set-one win. The Bruins pushed the 49ers out of system on the first point of the match with a slide from senior middle blocker Claire Felix, who has come on strong in her past two games despite returning from offseason shoulder surgery.
“The past week has been really big for me in just kind of regaining my confidence,” Felix said. “It was a pretty hard offseason because I came back to preseason and hadn’t really played at all, so it was kind of just jumping right back into it after not having done anything.”
UCLA never trailed in game one, but never led by more than two in the second, ultimately dropping the set 21-25.
Coach Michael Sealy substituted a variety of outside hitters for Anderson in the final points of set two, with both sophomore Kyra Rogers and redshirt senior Haley Lawless seeing time on the left side.
“I was really struggling that second set and it needed to happen,” Anderson said. “Coach Sealy gave me a chance to regather myself to watch the game rather than be in it.”
The time on the bench allowed Anderson to see which shots were open so she could slow down her approach and know where to hit the ball, she said. The senior finished the game with 12 kills, second on the team to Felix’s 16.
The Bruins went on a 7-1 run after the intermission, never trailing as they fought their way to a 25-20 third-set victory. Felix recorded four kills in the set, scoring the first and 24th points.
Going into the fourth up 2-1, another even set meant another close match for the Bruins. Long Beach State fought its way to a 23-23 tie before committing a net violation and a hitting error to give UCLA the match.
Sealy opted to sit freshman opposite Torrey Van Winden in the fourth set, leaving sophomore Zana Muno in for all six rotations. Muno took swings at the opposite position for two of the matches the Bruins played in Hawaii, right before Van Winden was cleared to play.
Sealy said that he wanted to take a look at Van Winden after her injury concerns were no longer keeping her off the court, but that Muno is a very viable option for the opposite spot. Muno notched two kills in three attempts with one error in game four.
The win against Long Beach served as UCLA’s final nonconference tuneup. The Bruins will travel across town to take on USC to begin Pac-12 play Sept. 21.