UCLA
Lipscomb
#14 Bruins Roam Past the Bisons
December 05, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
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LOS ANGELES - The 14th-seeded Bruins hit a season-best .494 on Friday at the John Wooden Center, sweeping Lipscomb by a score of 25-10, 25-22, 25-15 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Redshirt sophomore Jessyka Ngauamo and sophomore Reily Buechler each had 14 kills and posted career bests in hitting percentage.
The Bruins improved to 24-7 overall, while the Bisons ended their season at 23-9.
Buechler recorded only one error in 20 attempts for a .650 hitting percentage, while Ngauamo had just one miscue in 22 swings (.591) with six digs, three blocks and two aces. Junior Jordan Anderson was also in double figures in kills with 10, hitting .400 with two errors in 20 attempts. Freshman Zana Muno tallied 30 assists and six digs. Junior Taylor Formico had 10 digs and seven assists, junior Jennie Frager posted five kills, junior Claire Felix notched four blocks and senior Rachel Inouye added five digs.
UCLA never trailed in winning the opening set. The score was even at two and three before the Bruins went on a 10-2 run to go ahead 13-5. Buechler had three kills and a solo block during the run, Ngauamo added a kill and ace, Anderson and Felix both had kills and Lipscomb made two errors.
The Bruins' lead stayed as high as nine and got to as many as 15. At 22-10, a Frager kill, a Formico ace and a Ngauamo kill wrapped up the 25-10 victory. Ngauamo led the Bruins with four kills and four digs, Buechler added three kills and Formico posted six digs, as the Bruins as a team had 13 kills in an error-less 22 attempts (.591).
The Bisons took their first lead of the match in the second set, as their advantage eventually got to as many as four at 13-9. But UCLA responded with an 11-3 run to take its own four-point lead. A stretch of six out of seven Bruin points on three Ngauamo kills, a Buechler kill and two Lipscomb errors put UCLA up 15-14. After a Bisons sideout, a 5-1 Bruin run on a Ngauamo kill and ace, a Felix/Muno block, an Anderson kill and a Lipscomb attack error made it 20-16.
Lipscomb didn't quit and was within one at 22-21 and 23-22, but an attack error and a Ngauamo kill gave the Bruins the 25-22 win. Ngauamo again led the Bruins with seven kills, Buechler added five and Anderson recorded four. Inouye and Muno both had four digs, as UCLA out-hit Lipscomb .324 to .229.
It was another error-free set for the Bruins in the third. UCLA dropped the first two points of the set, but scored the next three on a Ngauamo kill and two Lipscomb attack errors and didn't trail for the rest of the match. At 9-6, a 5-1 run on four Anderson kills and a Bisons attack error made it 14-7.
The Bruins' lead stayed between five and 10 for the rest of the set. At 15-10, a Ngauamo kill, a Felix/Ngauamo roof and back-to-back Buechler kills made it 19-10. UCLA got its lead to double figures at 10 for the first time at 24-14, and on its second match point, a service error closed out the 25-15 win. Buechler had six kills, Anderson added four and Ngauamo posted three, as the Bruins had 15 kills in 23 swings (.652).
UCLA takes on Michigan, which beat Santa Clara 3-1 in Friday's first match, in the second round on Saturday at 7 p.m. at the John Wooden Center. Live video will be available on UCLABruins.com.
