UCLA
Oregon State
Bruins Batter Beavers in Balanced Attack
November 23, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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CORVALLIS, Ore. - Three Bruins had double figures in kills, led by senior Karsta Lowe's 20, while four players reached double figures in digs, with junior Karly Drolson pacing the way with 20, as the 17th-ranked Bruins came back to defeat Oregon State in four sets on Saturday at Gill Coliseum. Set scores were 19-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-16.
Lowe was one of the quartet of Bruins (19-10, 10-8 Pac-12) in double figures in digs with 10 to record her sixth double-double of the season and eighth of her career. The senior also added three aces, which tied a career best. Sophomore Taylor Formico notched 19 digs, while senior Megan Moenoa had 12 digs and 43 assists for her first double-double of the season and eighth of her career.
The Bruins hit .265 for the match. Freshman Reily Buechler had 17 kills, while redshirt sophomore Haley Lawless added 11. Senior Zoë Nightingale recorded seven kills, sophomore Claire Felix posted six kills and a career-high six blocks and junior Rachel Inouye added eight digs.
The Bruins never led in set one. After six sideouts to start the match, Oregon State went on a 9-3 run to go up by six at 12-6. UCLA rallied back with a 6-2 run to cut its deficit to two at 14-12. Lowe had two kills and an ace during the run, while Buechler, Felix and Lawless also had kills.
However, Oregon State responded with a 6-1 run to go up by a set-best seven at 20-13. At 21-14, the Bruins scored five of six on two Lowe kills and kills by Buechler, Lawless and Nightingale to make it 22-19, but the Beavers scored the final three of the set to win the opener 25-19. Buechler and Lowe each had five kills, while Lawless added four. The Bruins were out-hit .471 to .324.
The Bruin defense buckled down in the next three sets, as Oregon State would not hit above .111 in either of the final three stanzas to fuel the UCLA comeback. The Beavers led early 5-1 and maintained their advantage throughout most of the second. Oregon State's largest lead was five at 15-10. With the Beavers up 16-12, the Bruins rallied with a 13-4 run to end the set with a 25-20 victory.
Three Lawless kills to go with kills by Felix and Lowe and a Buechler/Nightingale block accounted for the first six points for the Bruins and evened the score at 18. Two OSU attack errors then put the Bruins up 20-18. After a Beaver sideout, kills by Moenoa and Nightingale, a Buechler/Nightingale block and an OSU attack error gave UCLA five set points. On the Bruins' second try, a Nightingale kill closed out a 25-20 victory. Lowe had four kills, while Nightingale added four with no errors in 10 attempts. Buechler and Lawless each had three kills. In a great defensive set for the Bruins, Formico had 10 digs, while Drolson added seven. The Bruins out-hit the Beavers .235 to .111.
The Bruins didn't trail in either of the final two sets to finish off the victory. UCLA scored the first three on an OSU attack error, a Lowe kill and a Lowe/Nightingale block, as the Bruins soon after jumped out to a 9-3 lead. Oregon State got to within four, but could get no closer. At 16-11, a Felix kill, a Felix/Moenoa block and an OSU attack error gave the Bruins a set-best lead of eight at 19-11.
The Bruins' lead stayed between five and seven for the rest of the set, as Lowe's team-best sixth kill of the third wrapped up a 25-18 victory. Buechler added three kills, Drolson posted six digs and Felix and Lowe each had three blocks, as the Bruins out-hit the Beavers .200 to .021.
UCLA again jumped out to a 3-0 lead in set four on two Buechler kills and a Nightingale kill. At 4-2, a 6-1 UCLA run made it 10-3. Three straight OSU attack errors opened the run, and after a sideout, a Lawless kill and a kill and ace by Lowe put the Bruins up by seven. The closest the Beavers would get the rest of the way was four.
At 15-11, a Lawless kill, one by Lowe, a Felix kill and another by Lowe made it 19-11. At 20-14, a Lawless kill, a Felix/Moenoa block and a Buechler kill put the Bruins up by a set-best nine at 23-14. Four sideouts later, a Lowe kill finished off a 25-16 victory. Buechler led the way for the Bruins with six kills, Lowe added five and Lawless had three. The Bruins out-hit the Beavers .310 to .088.
The Bruins play their final road game of the regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 26 at Arizona State at 3 p.m. PT. Free video and live stats will be available on UCLABruins.com.
