The Wildcats’ defense almost got to the Bruins’ heads.
“It’s hard not to get discouraged when you’re playing a team that can dig everything, just picking up balls that you just can’t even imagine them picking up,” said junior outside hitter Reily Buechler. “I mean, we got our butts kicked.”
Instead, the No. 9 Bruins (19-5, 10-4 Pac-12) addressed the weaknesses that the Wildcats exposed and showed Arizona State a new formation the next night.
In order to add more firepower to the team’s offense, coach Michael Sealy moved Buechler into the right side position.
While Zana Muno has held the spot for most of the regular season, Friday’s game reflected the challenges the sophomore faces. The 5-foot-10 opposite was unable to execute against Arizona, hitting -.133 and tallying only one kill on her 15 attempts.
Buechler led the team with 13 kills – including the 1,000th of her career – and a .423 hitting percentage during Saturday’s match after slotting into Muno’s old spot.
“I think Zana has done a great job for us on the ball control side, she’s the one that makes that system work really well for us,” Sealy said. “Although the passing and defense has been great, she’s been struggling offensively, and we thought maybe if we put Reily there, we’d get still enough ball control but maybe upgrade the offensive side a little bit.”
Although right side isn’t her main position, Buechler said it was fun to do something different on the court and credited her team for being so well-rounded and versatile.
“It creates a different type of balance so we can have other players fill in on the outside,” Buechler said, mentioning that the team had practiced that switch a few times in practice. “It was fun to be able to execute even when it’s a little different.”
Buechler said that the biggest benefit coming out of the formation, however, is Taylor Formico’s presence playing in the middle back spot.
“It’s mostly for passing reasons, so we can have Taylor Formico pass in the middle every single play, which is just a huge advantage to us,” Buechler said. “If we get into ruts, we can get out of them fast so it’s really nice having her pass in the middle.”
Formico’s presence in the back row is a crucial piece of the puzzle for UCLA this year. The veteran libero notched 14 digs against the Sun Devils, and leads the Bruins with 5.06 digs per set.
Assistant coach Tony Ker credits Formico as being a key leader on the court.
“She knows the scouting report every time inside and out, and she reminds the girls between each play, and takes ownership of everything,” Ker said. “It takes a tremendous pressure off of the rest of the girls and she makes people feel comfortable even when things aren’t going well.”
Formico said that while the team was sitting back on their heels and not putting pressure back on the Wildcats during their loss, she observed the team’s growth from challenging experiences.
“They were winning the long rallies and it flustered us,” Formico said. “But next time we know how to handle those situations better and learn from it. Hopefully if we’re in that situation again, we can put pressure back and finish those games.”