Two games, two different lineups and two contrasting results.
No. 25 UCLA women’s volleyball (13-12, 8-10 Pac-12) defeated Arizona State 3-1 (14-16, 5-13) on Friday evening but starters redshirt freshman outside hitter Alexis Light and junior setter Kylie Miller were dealt injuries. The Bruins were swept by No. 24 Arizona (20-10, 9-9) on Sunday afternoon.
Light and Miller were replaced by redshirt freshman middle blocker Emily Ryan – playing for only the second time this season – and freshman setter Devon Chang in the starting lineup against the Wildcats.
“It’s obviously a bummer when you don’t have people who you usually play with,” said sophomore outside hitter Jenny Mosser. “But the awesome thing about our team is that we do have depth and the ability for other people to come in.”
Arizona State led the first set throughout to take it 25-18 as the Bruins mustered 11 kills with six errors from 34 attack attempts in the frame.
“We had a slow start to the match, but, as the match went on, we got into a groove and improved our level of play,” said coach Michael Sealy.
UCLA notched 17 kills and one error in the second set, hitting for .500 en route to a 25-22 set win. The set featured 12 ties and three lead changes.
The Bruins held the Sun Devils to a −.024 hitting percentage in the third set – the only negative hitting percentage set either team posted in the match – to take the third set 25-18. The fourth set featured 10 ties and four lead changes, but the Bruins prevailed 25-23 to take the match.
Later that weekend, against Arizona, UCLA surrendered a 13-3 run to Arizona to end the first set 25-13.
“We just let them go on runs,” Chang said. “Sometimes it takes us a while to really battle and compete really hard.”
The Bruins went on a 7-0 run on Chang’s serve after facing a 20-12 deficit in the second set, but succumbed 25-22.
“(Chang) did a great job of serving tough, and, once we got the momentum going, we could really feel it and started performing better,” Mosser said. “It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t finish it out. Lack of execution and late errors got us in the end.”
Arizona used a 9-3 run to overpower UCLA 25-15 in the third set to complete the sweep.
“The team had moments where you could see we were right there,” Mosser said. “We were doing the right things – just not consistently for long enough. We have the potential to do that, so it can be frustrating, but if we keep working on it, we’ll be fine.”
The Bruins hit for .206 and logged 34 kills in comparison to the hitting percentage of .325 and 48 kills for the Wildcats. Mosser, who notched 11 kills and seven digs, was the only Bruin to record double-digit kills.
The most prolific hitter in the Pac-12 in terms of kills per set – Arizona’s Kendra Dahlke – had 20 kills from 43 attempts, at .372.
“(Ryan) had never played that position, before so I thought she did a good job,” Sealy said. “(Chang) came in and ran the offense. Quality of ball wasn’t great everywhere, so it was tough for her and the hitters to get into rhythm.”
UCLA will return to Pauley Pavilion on Wednesday afternoon to take on Colorado (17-12, 9-9).
“The main takeaway is that we’re right there,” Mosser said. “It’s frustrating, but we have to understand that it’s the little things that we need to take care of. We have all the parts – we just need to put them together.”