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#20 UCLA Drops Tough Five-Setter at #4 Washington
October 04, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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SEATTLE, Wash. - Senior Karsta Lowe had a double-double with 28 kills and a career-high 16 digs to go with a personal-best three aces, but the 20th-ranked Bruins fell in five at #4 Washington on Friday at Alaska Airlines Arena. Set scores were 25-18, 26-24, 17-25, 20-25, 10-15.
The Bruins (10-4, 1-2 Pac-12) had two others in double figures in both kills and digs. Freshman Olga Strantzali had 14 kills to go with three aces, while freshman Reily Buechler tallied 13 kills. Defensively, sophomore Taylor Formico added 13 digs and junior Rachel Inouye posted 12. Senior Julie Consani had 58 assists and five digs, senior Zoë Nightingale recorded five kills and no errors in eight attempts (.625) with four blocks and junior Karly Drolson added six digs.
Set one featured 14 ties and six lead changes, but a late Bruin run gave the visitors the opening set. Down 2-1, three straight points for Lowe on two kills and an ace put UCLA up 4-2. Washington (15-0, 4-0 Pac-12) came back with a 5-1 to go up by a set-best two at 7-5. The Huskies would maintain the lead until a Strantzali kill and ace put the Bruins back ahead 13-12. Washington regained the lead and held a 16-15 edge until a 10-2 UCLA run closed out an opening-set victory.
The first half of an 8-0 run came on a Buechler kill, a Nightingale/Strantzali combo block, a UW attack error and a Nightingale kill. The next four points came on kills by Lowe and Strantzali, a Lowe/Nightingale combo block and a Nightingale kill to make it 23-16. After the Huskies scored a pair, kills by Lowe and Strantzali wrapped up the 25-18 win. Lowe led the Bruins with six kills, Strantzali added five and Buechler posted four. The Bruins out-hit the Huskies .294 to .067.
In set two, UCLA led early, Washington led late, but the Bruins saved three set points to win the second. At 4-all, a 6-2 UCLA run on two Lowe kills, Buechler and Strantzali kills and two Washington errors put the visitors up 10-6. The Bruins were up 15-12 when the Huskies went on an 11-5 run to go up 23-20.
At 24-21, Washington had three set points, but UCLA reeled off five in a row to improbably take the second set. A Nightingale solo block, a Consani ace and a Lowe/Nightingale roof evened things at 24. A Washington attack error gave UCLA a set point and Lowe's set-best 10th kill of the second finished up a 26-24 win. Lowe had 10 of the Bruins' 15 kills in the set, as UCLA out-hit Washington .294 to .179. Inouye added five digs.
The Huskies led wire-to-wire in set three, scoring the first four points. Down 19-11, the Bruins scored four of five on two Buechler kills and two bad sets by the Huskies to get to within five, but Washington would go on to win the third 25-17. Lowe led the Bruins with six kills in the third, as the Bruins were out-hit .400 to .107.
The Bruins held as much as a six-point lead in set four, but could not hold it. Trailing 2-1, a 10-3 UCLA run made it 11-5. Lowe was a part of five of the 10 points on three kills and two aces, while Nightingale added two kills. UCLA still held a 15-11 edge, but Washington rallied with a 12-4 run to go up 23-19, eventually winning the fourth 25-20. Lowe led the Bruins with five kills and five digs, Buechler added three kills and Formico recorded five digs. The Bruins were out-hit .333 to .128.
There were four ties through the first eight points of set five, but a 4-1 Washington run gave the home team an 8-5 edge. UCLA would not be able to get to within two for the rest of the set, falling 15-10 in the fifth. Buechler and Strantzali each had three kills in the fifth, as UCLA was out-hit .692 to .188.
The Bruins take on Washington State on Sunday at 11 a.m. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks.
