Thomas Amberg was screaming at the top of his lungs, but his teammates 2 feet way from him couldn’t even hear him ““ the crowd was too loud.
The junior quick hitter had put away a block to give UCLA a match-tying 25-23 win in the second set. It was only the second set dropped by USC all year.
“There was a lot of energy tonight,” redshirt junior quick hitter Weston Dunlap said. “We try to not let the crowd affect us, but on a night like this, it was hard not to.”
It was a thrilling match that included 34 ties and 12 lead changes, but the Trojans were ultimately able to pull away for a 3-1 win Friday night at Pauley Pavilion.
“They’re a really good team that goes on a lot of runs, and we just let them do that tonight,” said Dunlap, who led the Bruins with 13 kills on a .688 hitting percentage. “They have all been together a long time, and they really know how to play together so we’ll have to get better and find a way to counter that.”
Saying that No. 1 USC (6-0, 6-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) had dominated in its first five matches would be a gross understatement. No. 4 UCLA (7-3, 2-2) had momentum, too. The Bruins were coming off their best victory of the season in a 3-0 sweep of No. 8 Pepperdine and had earned a top five ranking.
The Trojans dominated early, jumping out to a 7-1 lead behind stellar play from senior opposite hitter Murphy Troy. The Bruins fought back to get out of the early hole but were unable to hold off Troy and the Trojans, losing the set 25-22.
“I think we came out a little bit nervous to start the match,” freshman outside hitter Gonzalo Quiroga said. “Eventually we settled down, but we made like eight or nine errors in that first game and we just can’t let that happen.”
UCLA seemed confident heading into the second set, and the Bruins were able to ride that momentum to an early lead. Both teams battled back and forth in a set that included 12 ties and five lead changes.
UCLA finally took the advantage when Quiroga delivered a strong kill followed by his second ace of the match, warranting a USC timeout. The Bruins’ momentum proved to be too much for the Trojans, as Amberg’s block gave UCLA the 25-23 victory, sending the home crowd into a roar.
“There was no question that our strength was in the middle tonight,” coach Al Scates said. “Tom and Wes had a combined 25 kills; we couldn’t have asked for anything better.”
The third set was more of the same, with 15 ties and five lead changes.
Though UCLA seemed to be in charge for the majority of the set, USC remained unfazed and ended up winning the set 26-24.
The 2-1 hole was too much to handle for the Bruins in the fourth set, and they fell 25-16 mostly because of an eight-point service run from Troy that put USC up 20-11. Troy added four of his five aces in the fourth game, and he ended the match with an emphatic kill, his 26th of the night.
“Murphy Troy is the best server and probably one of the best players we’re going to play all year,” Scates said. “This was our best game serving-wise with six aces and only eight errors, but it was totally negated by how well Troy did.”
The Bruins will not face the Trojans again until April 14, a match that will have MPSF implications and maybe more.
“They are the best team in the nation, but we definitely know we can play with them and even beat them,” Dunlap said. “We’ll keep playing together and growing together, and we’ll be ready the next time we play them.”