UCLA
Utah
Lowe Nets Career-High 30 Kills, as #17 UCLA Outlasts Utah
October 11, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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MALIBU, Calif. - Senior Karsta Lowe recorded a career-high 30 kills, hit .404 and added five digs and five blocks, as the 17th-ranked Bruins outlasted Utah in five sets on Friday at Firestone Fieldhouse. Set scores were 22-25, 25-20, 25-18, 22-25, 15-13.
The Bruins (12-4, 3-2 Pac-12) hit .333, the 52nd-straight match they have won when eclipsing the .300 mark. Lowe became the first Bruin since Rachael Kidder (Sept. 23, 2011 against Stanford) to record 30 kills in a match. Freshman Reily Buechler posted her second-straight contest with 20 kills, hitting the number on the nose, just one shy of tying a personal best. She hit .395 with six digs. Senior Zoë Nightingale tied a career high with 11 kills, hitting .348 and adding six blocks.
Senior Julie Consani was a dig shy of a double-double with 57 assists and nine digs to go with four kills. Redshirt sophomore Haley Lawless added six kills. Defensively, sophomore Taylor Formico surpassed the 1,000-career dig mark with 18 digs. Juniors Karly Drolson and Rachel Inouye added nine digs apiece.
UCLA scored the first four points of set one on a Lowe kill, two Utah errors and a Lowe/Nightingale combo block, but the Utes slowly made their way back into it and took their first lead at 11-10. The score was tied at every point from 10 to 19. At 18-17 UCLA, a 6-2 Utes run gave them a three-point edge at 23-20. The teams sided out the next four points of the opener, as Utah won it 25-22. Buechler paced the Bruins with five kills, while Lowe added three, as UCLA out-hit Utah .226 to .143.
The Bruins led wire-to-wire in set two, jumping out to a 7-3 lead on two Buechler kills, one apiece by Lowe and Consani and three Utah errors. At 9-7, a 5-0 Bruin run on a combo block by Lowe and sophomore Jennie Frager, and two kills apiece by Nightingale and Lowe, gave them a set-best lead of seven at 14-7.
The closest Utah would get for the rest of the set was three at 21-18, but UCLA finished out the second on a 4-2 run to win the set 25-20. Lowe had each of the last three points in set two and posted a set-best seven kills for the Bruins. Buechler added five kills and Nightingale had four, as none of them had an error. UCLA out-hit Utah .444 to .225. Formico added six digs.
In the third, Utah held an early 4-2 lead, but three straight kills by Nightingale, Buechler and Consani put the Bruins up 5-4. Despite ties at five, six and seven-all, UCLA didn't trail for the rest of the set. Tied at seven, a 6-1 Bruin run put them up 13-8. Kills by Lowe and Lawless made it 9-7, and after a sideout, a Frager kill, a Lowe/Nightingale block, a Lowe kill and a Formico ace put UCLA ahead 13-8.
Utah got to within three, but was no closer. At 20-17, the Bruins scored five of the last six to win the third 25-18. A Lowe kill and a Lawless/Nightingale block made it 22-17, and after a sideout, a Utah attack error and two Nightingale blocks, first solo and then with Buechler, wrapped up the set. Lowe had another clean set with seven kills and no miscues in nine swings. Nightingale added four kills with four blocks and Buechler posted three kills. The Bruins out-hit the Utes .452 to .133.
Just like set one, the Bruins charged out to a 4-0 lead in set four on two Utah errors and kills by Lowe and Lawless, but again Utah stormed back. An 8-2 run put the visitors on top 8-6. Despite two more ties, Utah maintained its lead for the rest of the set. The Utes' biggest lead of the set was five at 17-12.
UCLA stayed within reach and down 21-19, got a Utah service error and a Lawless kill to even the score at 21. Two points later and equal at 22, Utah got the final three of the set to win the fourth 25-22. Buechler and Lowe each had five kills, Lawless added three and Formico posted five digs. The Bruins were out-hit .275 to .250.
In set five, Lowe scored the first four Bruin points as they held a 4-2 lead, but Utah tied it at four. Equal at seven, kills by Buechler and Lowe and a Frager/Lowe block extended the Bruins lead to three at 10-7. Down 11-8, Utah scored three in a row to again get even at 11, but a Lowe kill and a Ute attack error put the Bruins up by a pair.
A Utah sideout later, a Nightingale kill gave the Bruins match point at 14-12. The Utes saved the first try, but sent an attack into the net to give the Bruins the 15-13 victory. Lowe had eight of the Bruins' 11 kills in the fifth, as the Bruins out-hit the Utes .280 to .150.
The Bruins take on Colorado at Firestone Fieldhouse on Sunday at 11 a.m. Admission to the match is free. Free video, audio and live stats will be available on UCLABruins.com.
