MALIBU “”mdash; It has become a perfect prediction of whether the
UCLA women’s volleyball team will win or lose.
Despite the deficits they’ve faced and the challenges
they’ve encountered, UCLA has beaten every unranked team it
has faced this year, while losing to every ranked team it has
played against.
Continuing this streak, the No. 21 Bruins (14-8, 6-6 Pac-10)
narrowly edged out unranked Pepperdine (14-11, 7-4 West Coast
Conference) after trailing for much of last night in Malibu.
The teams traded points for much of the match, and the Bruins
needed a late comeback in the fifth game to pull out a 26-30,
30-16, 22-30, 30-26, 17-15 victory.
“We’ve been in this situation a lot of times this
season, and we’ve always seemed to come up with a win,”
junior Nana Meriwether said. “I had faith in my team that we
would get a win in the end, even though it was really
close.”
Against Pepperdine, though, UCLA has learned never to be too
confident, as the Bruins held a 2-0 game lead last year at home
against the Waves, then lost the next three games. Last night, the
Bruins never got a chance to let down from a lead, as they were the
ones doing the catching up.
In Game 5, UCLA was down 9-13 before it reeled off four straight
points, two of which were Meriwether blocks, en route to a 17-15
win.
Meriwether followed up a record-setting eight solo-block
performance last Friday against Oregon with another strong showing
against the Waves, leading the team with two solo blocks and seven
block assists for the match.
“Pepperdine is always a good team, and they have some big
middles, but our blocking had a major impact on us winning,”
UCLA coach Andy Banachowsi said. “Blocking and serving were
the key to turning it around for us.”
The match would likely have been much easier for the Bruins if
they had junior captain Colby Lyman on the court.
Lyman suffered a partial tear to the ligament in her right elbow
last Thursday against Oregon State and will be out for at least
three weeks.
Without her in the lineup, the Bruins played inconsistently,
often going on large scoring runs, then immediately giving up
several straight points.
“Consistency is certainly a problem for us without Colby
out there,” Banachowski said. “Colby is such an
emotional leader, who the team can look to give them confidence,
and without her the team must look to themselves.”
Even with the absence of one of the team’s leaders,
several Bruins stepped up to give UCLA the win. Junior Katie Carter
slammed 19 kills in 40 swings (.425) and freshman Nellie Spicer
gave a strong all-around performance, with seven kills, 57 set
assists and 11 digs.
“We really played as a team, even more than we had in the
past,” freshman Kaitlin Sather said. “Everyone was
pulling her own weight.”