A week after suffering its first loss of the season, the No. 11 UCLA women’s volleyball team left the Mile High City in high spirits after going undefeated in the Denver Invitational.
The Bruins (8-1) rebounded from their Sept. 7 loss to No. 10 Hawaii in their first match of the tournament, sweeping the hosting Denver Pioneers (5-5) in three sets Thursday.
“I think we did a good job of responding from the Hawaii match,” said senior outside hitter Kelly Reeves, who had eight kills to go along with her 13 digs Thursday. “It was a good win for us and then it led into the other two wins this weekend as well.”
However, UCLA would find tough sledding in its second match of the tournament against an upstart Cal State Northridge squad that gave the Bruins all they could handle.
UCLA trailed late in the first two sets, overcoming a 24-21 deficit in set one en route to a 27-25 victory, before repeating the feat in the following set to take a 2-0 lead. The Matadors (7-2) returned the favor by taking the next two sets, setting the stage for a fifth and final frame.
The two teams would battle to an 11-all tie before kills by Reeves and sophomore outside hitter Maddy Klineman gave UCLA a two point advantage. Senior outside hitter Karsta Lowe would add a kill before the Matadors committed a game ending error to give the Bruins the match victory and avoid an upset after an admittedly inconsistent performance.
“In those games we were only playing well when it came down to the line,” said Klineman. “In the fifth set we said we have to play every point like its match point. I thought we came out with a lot of fire and some urgency.”
Coach Mike Sealy said it was a lack of urgency at times, together with inexperience with a new system and injuries, which led to the Bruins’ inconsistent play.
“We’re a pretty good team 50 percent of the time, and we’re really good 25 percent of the time and we’re probably pretty bad 25 percent of the time,” Sealy said. “That’s just where we’re at right now and we’re getting a little bit better every day and that ratio is going to change as we get better and the season progresses.”
UCLA would play up to its ability in the fourth and final set of its match against No. 24 Creighton (7-2). The Bruins jumped out to an early 7-2 lead before leading by as many as ten at some points. Creighton got as close as four before Reeves closed the match out with her fifteenth kill for the 25-19 victory.
“We got our middles going outside and our passing was great and we just played volleyball,” Reeves said. “I think sometimes we kind of lose sight of that and we get a little tight but when we just play and have fun, we’re unstoppable. And in that fourth set we just played volleyball and had fun. “
UCLA will next play Wednesday at Long Beach State, its last game before conference play.