UCLA
Penn State (Regional Semifinal)
Lowe's 22 Kills Not Enough, as Bruins Fall to Penn State in Three
December 13, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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2014 UCLA Women's Volleyball Media Guide
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Senior Karsta Lowe closed out her career with yet another 20-kill performance, going for a match-best 22, but the 12th-seeded Bruins dropped a three-set decision to #5 Penn State in the NCAA Regional Semifinals on Friday at the KFC Yum! Center. Set scores were 26-28, 16-25, 19-25.
Lowe's brilliant college career culminated with her 21st match of the season with at least 20 kills, as she hit .354 with four digs and three blocks. She finishes with 1,422 kills, 13th on UCLA's all-time list. Her career total of 3.98 kills per set places her fifth at UCLA. Lowe's 5.96 kills and 6.60 points per set this year, as well as her 703 kills and 778.5 points, are all the second-best single-season totals at UCLA.
The Bruins, who hit .254 in the match, conclude their season with a 22-12 record. Freshman Reily Buechler had eight kills, sophomore Claire Felix added six and redshirt sophomore Haley Lawless and freshman Olga Strantzali each posted five kills. Defensively, junior Rachel Inouye had 12 digs, junior Karly Drolson added 10 and sophomore Taylor Formico posted five.
Three more Bruins closed out their collegiate careers. Senior Julie Consani played two sets and had 27 assists, senior Megan Moenoa appeared in two sets and posted 18 assists and senior Zoë Nightingale recorded three kills.
Penn State came out with the first four points and extended its early lead to as many as five at 9-4 and 10-5. UCLA responded with a 6-1 run to even the score at 11. The run began with a Nightingale kill and a Penn State attack error. After a Nittany Lion sideout, a Lowe kill, a Strantzali kill, another by Lowe and a combo block by Lowe and Nightingale tied it up. The Bruins took their first lead of the set at 14-13. Trailing 13-12, a Lowe kill and ace put UCLA on top by one.
Down 15-14, UCLA scored four of five on kills by Strantzali, Felix, Lowe and Buechler to take a set-best lead of two at 18-16. Penn State came back with the next three to go up 19-18, and despite five more ties and four set points saved for UCLA, the Nittany Lions would come out on top in the first. At 24-22, a Lowe kill and a Penn State attack error evened things at 24.
After a Penn State sideout, a Felix kill saved the third set point to make it 25-all. The Nittany Lions got the next one for a fourth set point, but Lowe's 10th kill of the first made it 26-all. However, Penn State got the next two points to take the first 28-26. Felix and Strantzali each had three kills in the opener, while Drolson added six digs. The Bruins out-hit the Nittany Lions .293 to .289.
The Bruins never led in set two, as Penn State scored five of the first six points. At 11-7, the Nittany Lions extended their advantage to nine thanks to an 8-3 run to go up 19-10. Penn State's largest lead of the set was 10 at 22-12, as it went on to win the third 25-16. Lowe paced the Bruins with six kills, with Buechler adding five, as UCLA was out-hit .467 to .162.
UCLA scored the first two points of set three on a Buechler kill and a Felix/Lowe combo block. Penn State came back to take a 4-3 lead, but a Lowe kill and back-to-back Lawless kills put the Bruins back up 6-4. The Nittany Lions responded with runs of 3-0, 8-3 and 12-5 to go ahead 16-11. Penn State's largest lead of the set was seven at 23-16, as the Nittany Lions would win the third 25-19. Lowe had six kills in the third, while Lawless added five, as the Bruins were out-hit .394 to .306.
