UCLA
Washington State
16th-Ranked Bruins Survive Washington State Upset Bid in Five
November 02, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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LOS ANGELES - Senior Karsta Lowe led all players with 31 kills and added 11 digs for her fifth double-double of the season, as the 16th-ranked Bruins came back to defeat Washington State in five sets on Sunday at the John Wooden Center. Set scores were 25-15, 23-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-13.
Lowe, who had her third match of the season with at least 30 kills, added five blocks, as UCLA (16-7, 7-5 Pac-12) tied a season best with 12 roofs. Senior Julie Consani also had a double-double, her third of the year, with 53 assists and 12 digs. Freshman Reily Buechler recorded nine kills, redshirt sophomore Haley Lawless had eight kills, four digs and three blocks, sophomore Claire Felix tallied seven kills and senior Zoë Nightingale added five kills, four digs and tied a season high with eight blocks. Defensively, three had double figures in digs, with sophomore Taylor Formico posting 21, junior Karly Drolson tying a season best with 13 and junior Rachel Inouye adding 10.
The Bruins never trailed in the opening set, scoring seven of the first eight points on two kills apiece by Buechler and Felix, a Formico ace and two Washington State attack errors. The closest the Cougars (10-14, 1-11 Pac-12) would get for the rest of the match was four at 8-4. At 14-8, a Felix kill, a WSU attack error and back-to-back kills by Lowe opened the lead to double digits for the first time at 18-8.
UCLA's largest lead of the set was 11 on a couple of occasions, as a kill by Felix closed out a 25-15 victory. The balanced Bruin offensive attack saw Buechler, Felix and Lowe all record four kills, with Felix not committing an error in six swings. Formico added five digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Cougars .462 to .036.
Set two saw the Bruins jump out to a small lead, but the Cougars fought back to even the match. UCLA's biggest edge was three at 7-4 and 9-6. Washington State scored four in a row from there to go ahead 10-9 and did not trail for the rest of the set. In all, a 7-1 run for the Cougars brought their lead to 13-10.
Washington State's largest lead was four on a pair of occasions, but the second set win would not come easy for the visitors. At 23-20, a Felix kill and a Nightingale block got the Bruins to within one at 23-22. But the Cougars sided out from there to win the set 25-23. Lowe was 6-for-11 with no errors in the set, while Buechler and Felix each added three kills. Formico tallied six digs, as the Bruins were out-hit .286 to .270.
The Bruins never led in set three, with the only tie coming at 1-all. The Cougars came back with the next six points to go ahead 7-1. Five was as close as the Bruins would get for the rest of the set. Washington State's first double-figure advantage was at 15-5, while its biggest lead was 12 at 21-9 and 22-10.
UCLA gained some momentum with a late run before ultimate falling in the third. At 22-10, the Bruins scored eight straight points on four Cougar errors, a kill and solo block from Nightingale, a Lowe/Nightingale roof and a Lowe kill to get to within four, but Washington State would take the set 25-20. Lowe had four kills in the third to lead the Bruins, who were out-hit .048 to -.091.
It appeared Washington State was going to come away with the upset victory until UCLA came back late in the fourth to force a deciding set. The Cougars jumped out to five-point leads of 6-1, 8-3 and 9-4 before the Bruins made their comeback. An 8-2 UCLA run gave the home team a 12-11 lead. Lowe had two kills during the run and combined with Nightingale on a block, Nightingale and Lawless teamed up for a roof and WSU had four attack errors.
The Cougars forged ahead again with a 5-1 run to take a 16-13 edge and still led by three at 20-17 before UCLA closed the set on an 8-1 run to win the fourth 25-21. Lowe had five of the eight points on kills, which were accompanied by a Lawless/Nightingale block, a WSU error and a Lawless kill to clinch the set. Lowe had 10 of the Bruins' 14 kills in the fourth, while Lawless added three. Consani recorded five digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Cougars .195 to .070.
The Bruins led early in set five 2-1 before a 4-0 WSU run put the visitors up 5-2. The Cougars' lead grew to as much as five at 9-4 before the Bruins began yet another comeback. Three Lowe kills and a Cougar ball handling error made it 9-8 WSU. After a sideout, kills by Buechler and Lawless and a Lawless/Nightingale block put the Bruins ahead 11-10.
The score would be tied at 11, 12 and 13 before a Lawless kill gave the Bruins match point. Lowe would finish things off with her 31st kill to win the fifth 15-13, as UCLA closed the contest on an 11-4 run. Lowe had seven of the Bruins' 11 kills in the decider, while Drolson added five digs, as the Bruins were out-hit .333 to .241.
Next up for the Bruins is a road matchup at Colorado on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 5:30 p.m. PT. The match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.
