For much of the 2013 season prior to Saturday’s match against Washington State, home court had proven to be anything but advantageous for UCLA women’s volleyball. After failing to win a single set in its first two games at Pauley Pavilion, the team left its home floor with its third straight loss after its match with No. 3 Washington Friday night.
However, UCLA (12-8, 3-7 Pac-12) rebounded from the 3-1 loss with one of its better showings of the season, taking down Washington State (15-8, 2-8 Pac-12) the following night in four sets for its first home victory of the season.
Despite recording more kills (19) than their opponents and hitting a better percentage (.500) in the first set of Friday’s match with the Huskies, the Bruins fell 23-25. UCLA kept the match close over the next two sets but Washington proved too much for the Bruins, as the Huskies’ defense totaled 30 block assists en route to taking the fourth set 13-25 for the 3-1 match victory. The loss was in many respects classic 2013 UCLA volleyball, yet another instance of matching a team step for step, only to run out of gas.
“We have trouble playing at our level for a long time,” said junior middle blocker Zoe Nightingale. “We played at our level for an hour and a half, two hours and then those two hours hit and we said, ‘Nope.’ We are working on the length at which we can play at a high level.”
UCLA appeared to play at that level against Washington State a day later, taking the first set 25-18. However, the Cougars refused to go away, buoyed by a vocal Washington State fan contingent that made Pauley Pavilion feel like Pullman, Wash. for much of the second set, tying the match at 1-1.
Trailing 13-9 in the pivotal third set, the Bruins appeared to be running on empty yet again, but instead kicked into another gear, going on a 16-6 run to close out the set in a span of play that had so often gone the other team’s way.
“That was the tipping point; that was the point in that match that every other match this year has gone the other direction,” said head coach Michael Sealy. “It was a huge growth opportunity. The girls came together and trusted themselves, just played volleyball and let the result take care of itself and that was a huge moment for them.”
UCLA rode the momentum into the final frame, in which it would capture 25-16 to seal the match. Sealy praised the effort of junior setter Megan Moenoa, who had 52 of UCLA’s 60 assists, in particular for keying a Bruins offense that took control of the match and never looked back.
“Megan is the one that tipped it; she found a great offensive rhythm, she was running the offense, getting hitters one-on-one,” said Sealy. “She kind of went above and beyond just setting a hittable ball; she created situations and that’s the best she’s ever done it.”
Saturday night’s performance may have been some of the best volleyball UCLA has played this year, as the team played with a consistency that has often eluded them. For a team that has previously had the door shut on them, the Bruins said it was nice to finally be the team finishing a game for a change.
“We closed, which was huge for us,” said junior outside hitter Karsta Lowe. “It’s something we are really working on. We haven’t done it in past games, so finishing that fourth game felt really good”.