The script was in place for a historic upset on Friday night,
but No. 2 USC refused to play its part.
The No. 19 UCLA women’s volleyball team came into the
match looking to avenge a 3-0 sweep at the hands of the Trojans
earlier this season. Instead, USC demonstrated why it is in the
hunt for a national championship, laying waste to the Bruins on its
own court 30-24, 30-21, 30-23.
“They’re certainly a very solid squad,” said
UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski. “When they go to the bench,
they only get bigger and better. We played a good game tonight, but
I think their blocking, their hitting, and their serving were too
much for us.”
The loss was the fourth in a row against USC for the Bruins
(15-12, 8-8 Pac-10), and made the already murky Pac-10 playoff
picture just a little bit blurrier. Heading into the conference
season’s final weekend, UCLA is tied for fifth place in the
conference and will likely need at least one victory against either
Arizona or Arizona State to avoid missing the playoffs for the
first time since 1996.
“We really need to get a couple wins this week,”
Banachowski said. “If we can do that, we’ll really
solidify our position playoffs-wise.”
The Bruins looked like a squad who could go deep into the
playoffs at times against USC (22-1, 15-1), but never could
maintain that momentum. After hanging with the Trojans throughout
much of the first game behind four kills and three blocks from
junior Cira Wright, UCLA collapsed midway through game two.
Leading 12-9, USC reeled off eight straight points behind
All-American junior Katie Olsovsky’s serving, and the front
line that recorded four blocks during the run.
“We tried different plays to see if we could get out of
the rotation, but Katie Olsovsky is a very good server,” said
UCLA sophomore Krystal McFarland. “They’re a very good
team, and I give them a lot of credit.”
In game three, the Bruins came out with renewed intensity,
taking a 23-22 lead on a Heather Cullen kill. That turned out to be
their final point of the match, as USC’s junior April Ross
squashed UCLA’s momentum, burying a crosscourt kill to tie
the game and then tallying the final seven points of the match on
her powerful serve.
“Those two serving runs really spelled the difference in
the match tonight,” Banachowski said. “We tried to slow
things down and break their momentum, but they were in a zone. They
weren’t getting aces, but we just couldn’t get the
sideout.”
The Bruins struggled to contain USC’s imposing front line,
as middle blockers Emily Adams (6-foot-5), Katie Olsovsky
(6-foot-3), and Bibiana Candelas (6-foot-3) notched a combined 23
kills on just 6 errors.
Freshman Nancy Barba was a pleasant surprise at middle block
since senior Angela Eckmier went down with a season-ending knee
injury, but she failed to record a kill against the Trojans,
finishing with just one block.
“We haven’t played a team with really good middles
other than Pepperdine,” Barba said. “We’re not
used to it, but now that I have seen it, I’ll know what to
look for.”
With two games remaining on the Pac-10 slate, a lot is left to
be decided. The Bruins could finish as high as third in the
conference with a sweep of the Arizona schools, but could drop to
eighth if they fail to secure a victory.
The Wildcats and Sun Devils swept UCLA in late September during
the first road trip of the conference season.
“We need to win both games,” McFarland said.
“We’re a lot better team than we were a month and a
half ago when we played in Arizona.”