The UCLA women’s volleyball (10-2, 0-1 Pac-10) team fell victim to crosstown rival USC (8-2, 1-0 Pac-10) in a five-game match on Friday night. In front of a crowd of 4,383 USC and UCLA fans, the Bruins were not able to contain the Trojans in the Pac-10 opener at the Galen Center.
The No. 5 Trojans defeated the No. 4 Bruins 24-26, 25-14, 20-25, 25-14, 15-5. The loss ended UCLA’s nine-match winning streak. The Bruins started the match with momentum on their side. In the first game, UCLA was able to come back from a 20-17 deficit behind senior defensive specialist Jade Machado’s serving run. At 25-24, game point for the Bruins, USC let the ball drop on its second contact, giving UCLA the win in the first game.
“We came out super fired up and came out with a great win,” Machado said. “Our ability to battle back and win the first game shows our potential to get out of anything.”
But USC took control of the second game and never relented. Although the two teams see-sawed back and forth in the third game, the Trojans dominated from the fourth game on as the Bruins began to tire out. UCLA hit .044 percent as a team in the fourth game, and the Trojans took advantage, going on a 13-2 run in the fifth and final game to take the match.
“We played hard all night long, but I thought we expended a lot of energy tonight and did not have enough left in the fourth and the fifth game in order to win the match,” coach Andy Banachowski said.