The Bruins fought until the end, but came away empty handed,
losing at Pepperdine 3-2 (32-34, 30-18, 32-34, 30-20, 15-7).
The No. 7 UCLA women’s volleyball team was attempting to
pull an upset in its last game of the season by beating the No. 4
Waves, and got off to a good start, but allowed long scoring runs
in the fourth and fifth games which hurt them.
The Bruins were up 5-3 early in the fifth, but allowed eight
points to suddenly find themselves down 11-5.
UCLA had to fight hard to win the third game, needing to win
three Pepperdine game points.
But after that, Pepperdine went on a long scoring run, taking an
early 7-1 lead in the fourth game and never looking back.
A similar run occurred in the second game, when after being up
only 14-11, Pepperdine (23-4, 14-0 WCC) won 10 of the next 12
points to take a 24-13 lead.
UCLA (21-8, 12-6 Pac-10) will find out its postseason fate
Sunday, when the NCAA tournament brackets are released. The Bruins
and coach Andy Banachowski have been pushing to host a regional.
The tournament begins on Thursday, Dec. 4.