When senior outside hitter Kelly Reeves went down with a sprained ankle in the first set of UCLA women’s volleyball’s match against Washington State, it appeared as if any hopes of the Bruins reaching the postseason went down with her.
With just four games remaining in the regular season and a postseason bid anything but guaranteed, losing Reeves, a three-year starter, over a prolonged period of time could have been the proverbial backbreaker for the Bruins. UCLA has had to battle through injuries and inconsistent play throughout the season, and facing both while down a set against Washington State with its vocal senior leader hurting, it wasn’t surprising that the Bruins felt a little exasperated.
“At that point it was laughable. It was just a universal joke about, ‘OK, how much more stuff do we have to go through?’” said coach Michael Sealy.
But the Bruins would bounce back, defeating the Cougars in five sets to give UCLA a much-needed victory. While the win gave the team its 14th on the year, it also came with a sorely needed confidence boost for a team that has often come out on the losing end of close matches.
“I think it was really good that we could pull out a five-setter against Washington State. It wasn’t pretty the whole time, but it was good just to prove that we could do it,” said sophomore outside hitter Maddy Klineman.
The narrative surrounding UCLA this year has largely focused on the team’s inability to finish games and its tendency to fall short when things mattered most. Since starting conference play, the Bruins were 0-5 in sets four and five that were decided by three points or less. However, that was not the case against the Cougars, as the Bruins pulled out a narrow 15-13 final-set victory.
UCLA’s late-game inefficiencies have been due in part to the injuries that plagued it in the beginning of the year. But while the injuries took a physical toll on the players, they affected the UCLA coaches’ mentalities.
“I think as the season began, we kind of had bodies in and out. We were hesitant to push harder and maybe that affected our coaching mindset of coaching safer and making sure we didn’t pick up any more injuries,” Sealy said. “But hindsight’s 20/20, and maybe that stopped our ability to push a little bit harder in practice and put them in some more tough situations in practice.”
After finally capturing a close win, the Bruins now head into their final home stand of the season with a result to back up their confidence.
“I think it’s good we got a tough win on the road, confidence-wise,” said junior setter Megan Moenoa. “But I feel good about this weekend coming up. I think that we’re constantly going better, so hopefully we can pull out two wins this weekend.”