UCLA
Utah
15th-Ranked Bruins Fall in Three to Utah
November 09, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Senior Karsta Lowe led all players with 17 kills, but the 15th-ranked Bruins were swept on Sunday by Utah at the Huntsman Center. Set scores were 25-23, 25-23, 25-22.
Junior Karly Drolson and sophomore Taylor Formico each had nine digs, while senior Julie Consani recorded 25 assists and six digs. Freshman Reily Buechler posted eight kills, sophomore Claire Felix had six kills and just one error in eight attempts (.625) and redshirt sophomore Haley Lawless recorded five kills. The Bruins (17-8, 8-6 Pac-12) hit .198 for the match.
The first set featured 14 ties and four lead changes, but Utah (14-11, 4-10 Pac-12) took the opener. Trailing 4-3, back-to-back Felix kills put the Bruins up for the first time, however the Utes responded with two in a row to re-take the lead. Utah maintained its lead until at 15-14, a Ute attack error and a solo roof from senior Zoë Nightingale put the Bruins back on top 16-15.
UCLA still held the lead at 17-16 after a Buechler/Nightingale combo block, but two straight for Utah put the home team up 18-17. Despite a tie at 18-all, the Utes would go on to win the set, scoring five of the next six to take a 23-19 edge. UCLA bounced back with a 4-1 run on two Lowe kills and two Utah attack errors to save a pair of set points, but the Utes won the opener 25-23. Lowe paced the Bruins with six kills in the first, while Felix added three. The Bruins were out-hit .226 to .172.
After dropping the first two points of set two, kills by Lowe and Lawless and two Utah attack errors put the Bruins up 4-2. The Utes rallied back with three in a row, but a 4-2 UCLA run on two Lowe kills and kills by Felix and Buechler put the Bruins back up 8-7. A 5-1 Utah run gave the home team the edge again at 12-9, but UCLA responded with runs of 6-1 and 10-4 to go up by a set-best three at 19-16.
The 6-1 run came on two Lowe kills, an ace by junior Rachel Inouye, a Lowe/Felix block and two Utah attack errors to make it 15-13. The next four Bruin points came on kills by Lowe, Consani, Buechler and Felix to put UCLA up 19-16. However, Utah closed the set on a 9-4 run to go up 2-0 in the match. Again, the Bruins trailed 24-21 and saved the first two set points on a Buechler/Nightingale block and an attack error, but again the Utes won a deuce set, 25-23. Lowe again had six kills, while Buechler added four. The Bruins were out-hit .167 to .139.
The Bruins held slim one-point leads in set three at 1-0 and 2-1 before three in a row for Utah gave the home team a 4-2 edge. The score would even up at five, six, seven, eight and 12, but the Bruins were unable to go back in front. After the 12-all tie, a 5-1 Utes run gave them a set-best lead of four at 17-13.
UCLA rallied with a 5-2 run on two Lowe kills, a kill by senior Megan Moenoa, a Buechler/Nightingale block and a Utah attack error to get to within one at 19-18, but could get no closer. The Utes would win the third set 25-22 to close out the sweep. Lowe paced the Bruins with five kills, while Buechler added three. Drolson and Formico each had five digs. The Bruins were out-hit .333 to .278.
The Bruins host top-ranked and undefeated Stanford on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the John Wooden Center. Free video and live stats will be available at UCLABruins.com.
