Volleyball gets by Pepperdine
By Eric Branch
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
MALIBUĂ‚ÂTheUCLA women’s volleyball team resembled a team
saving itself for something more important last night in Firestone
Fieldhouse. The third-ranked Bruins finished the regular season by
sweeping past Pepperdine, 15-10, 15-9, 15-10, all the while saving
their knockout punch for next week’s NCAA Championships.
"I wasn’t pleased with the way we came out tonight," UCLA head
coach Andy Banachowski said. "We played just well enough to
win."
However, with the Bruins’ firepower, just good enough was plenty
to overwhelm the Waves. The Bruins (28-3 overall) seemingly used
Pepperdine (9-17) as a sparring partner for much of the night,
allowing the Waves to hang around in each game before finishing
them off. UCLA held tenuous leads of 10-9, 8-7, 10-9, respectively
before kicking the offense into gear.
"We seemed to turn it on and then settle back down at the start
of the next game," Banachowski said.
Leading 10-9 in the second game with senior outside hitter
Annett Buckner serving, the Bruins reeled off five straight points
behind Buckner’s bullets. Junior outside hitter Jenny Johnson
hammered two of her team-high 15 kills in the game-ending run.
After the Waves chipped away at UCLA’s 6-0 third game lead to
trail just 9-10, the Bruins once again went to work. Consecutive
roofs by freshman setter Kim Coleman and Buckner opened the gap.
The stuffs were followed by crosscourt kills by Buckner and Johnson
to bring up game point. After Pepperdine outside hitter Amy Ward’s
shot flew wide the Bruins could officially look ahead to the post
season.
Besides Johnson, the balanced Bruin offense was paced by
freshman outside hitter Kara Milling’s 14 kills. Buckner added 13
while senior middle blocker Alyson Randick contributed 10. The
dominance was reflected in the stat sheet as the Bruins thoroughly
outhit (.375 to .244) and outblocked (13 to 6) the Waves.
After the methodical victory, Banachowski allowed himself to
look ahead for a title run.
"We’re in a good position to make a run at the national
championship," Banachowski said. "Now we just have to go after
it."