UCLA
LIU Brooklyn (1st Round)
Bruins Best Blackbirds in First Round of NCAA's
December 06, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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2014 UCLA Women's Volleyball Media Guide
LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Taylor Formico had a match-high 18 digs, while senior Karsta Lowe posted a match-best 11 kills, as the 12th-seeded Bruins defeated LIU Brooklyn on Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Pauley Pavilion. Set scores were 25-23, 25-19, 25-18.
The Bruins (21-11) advance to the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m. and will face Long Beach State, which swept San Diego earlier on Friday. Tickets will be available at the Pauley Pavilion ticket office and the match will be streamed online with free video and audio on UCLABruins.com.
Lowe added eight digs and two aces, while senior Zoë Nightingale and freshman Reily Buechler each posted 10 kills. Sophomore Claire Felix had eight kills and senior Julie Consani recorded 37 assists, nine digs and two aces. Defensively, junior Rachel Inouye had 10 digs and junior Karly Drolson added nine. The Bruins hit .149 for the match.
The Bruins led from start to finish in set one, scoring the first three points on kills by Lowe and Nightingale and an attack error by LIU Brooklyn (25-7). The Blackbirds netted the next two, but two Lowe kills and a kill by freshman Olga Strantzali made it 6-2. At 11-8, a 5-1 UCLA run extended the advantage to 16-9. Buechler, Lowe and Nightingale each had kills, Consani served an ace and Lowe and Nightingale teamed up for a block.
UCLA's largest lead of the opening set was eight at 21-13, but the Blackbirds made things interesting at the end. At 22-15, LIU went on a 7-1 run to get to within one at 23-22. But three sideouts later, the Bruins would win the first on a Lowe kill to take it 25-23. Lowe had six kills and five digs in the opener, Felix added five kills and no errors in six attempts and Nightingale was 3-for-6 with no miscues. Formico recorded seven digs, as the Bruins were out-hit .146 to .118.
The Bruins dropped the first point of set two, but scored the next three on kills by Buechler and Lowe and a Blackbird attack error to go up 3-1 and didn't trail for the rest of the set. Equal at six, a 5-1 UCLA run made it 11-7. Buechler had two kills, Strantzali added one and LIU committed two errors. The Blackbirds closed to within one at 11-10, but could not even the score.
At 19-17, back-to-back Buechler kills and a Formico ace made it 22-17. The Bruins biggest lead was six, which was the same difference of score in the second. Lowe again ended a set with a kill, as UCLA won it 25-19. Buechler paced the Bruins with six kills in the second, while Lowe and Nightingale each added three. Formico posted eight digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Blackbirds .167 to .114.
The third set featured five ties and two lead changes, but the Bruins pulled away to complete the sweep. At 6-all, an LIU service error and kills by Buechler and Nightingale put UCLA up 9-6. The Blackbirds rallied with runs of 6-0 and 9-2 to take a set-best lead of four at 15-11. That is when UCLA closed the match on a 14-3 run to finish the sweep.
Nine straight points sparked the Bruins, starting with a Nightingale kill, an LIU attack error, a Lowe/Nightingale block and a Lowe solo stuff. After an ace from Inouye, UCLA had a block by Nightingale and redshirt sophomore Haley Lawless, an LIU attack error and kills by Lowe and Consani. At 21-18, the Bruins scored the final four points on kills by Lowe and Lawless, a Lowe ace and a Felix kill to win the third 25-18. Nightingale led the Bruins in the third with four kills, while Lawless added three. Inouye recorded six digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Blackbirds .171 to .061.
