UCLA
20-5, 11-4Pac-12
California
9-16, 3-12Pac-12
Felix Leads Block Party in Sweep of Cal
November 10, 2016 | Women's Volleyball
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BERKELEY, Calif. -ย UCLA recorded 12 blocks on Thursday night, including a career-high eight from senior Claire Felix, while senior Taylor Formico added 21 digs, as the 13th-ranked Bruins swept California at Haas Pavilion. Set scores were 25-15, 25-20, 25-6, with the third stanza featuring the fewest points allowed in a set by the Bruins in 11 years.
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Five different Bruins (20-5, 11-4 Pac-12) had at least three blocks, while the offense was spread around, with four players recording at least four kills. Freshman Torrey Van Winden led the way with nine kills, a .389 percentage, nine digs and three blocks. Junior Reily Buechler had eight kills, eight digs and three blocks, sophomore Kyra Rogers posted five kills and three blocks and senior Jordan Anderson added four kills and four digs. UCLA hit .275 for the match behind the setting of junior Ryann Chandler (13 assists, seven digs) and freshman Kylie Miller (13 assists, three digs).
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The Bruins trailed 2-1 in the opening set before rattling off 24 of the next 37 points to take the first 25-15. An 8-0 run broke things open early on. Two blocks by Rogers and Felix, two kills from Buechler, a Miller ace and three Cal errors turned a 4-3 score into a 12-3 margin. The Bears (9-16, 3-12 Pac-12) closed to within seven at 16-9, but a 5-1 run on two Rogers kills, one by Anderson and a roof by Buechler and senior Jennie Frager extended the advantage to double figures. On their second set point, a Van Winden kill closed out a 10-point victory. Buechler had four kills and three blocks in the opening set, Van Winden added three kills and five digs, Felix posted four blocks and Formico notched nine digs, as the Bruins hit .243 and held the Golden Bears to a -.022 percentage. UCLA has six blocks in the opening set.
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UCLA never trailed in the second set, scoring the first four points on kills by Anderson, Frager and Van Winden and a Cal attack error. The Golden Bears closed to within one at 6-5, but Frager and Felix kills and a Cal error brought the lead back up to four at 9-5. At 12-9, another 3-0 run on two Anderson kills and a Cal attack error made it 15-9. An 18-11 advantage of seven points would be the largest of the set for the Bruins, who claimed a 25-20 victory. Anderson and Van Winden both had three kills in the set, while Buechler added four digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Bears .293 to .163.
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The Bruins once again never trailed in set three to close out the sweep. Leading 6-3, UCLA scored 16 in a row to go ahead 22-3. The first four points came on a Felix kill, a Buechler ace and two Cal attack errors. The next four came on kills by Felix and Formico and two more errors. With the score 14-3, a Van Winden/Felix block, a Buechler ace, a Rogers kill and another Van Winden/Felix roof extended the run to 12-0 and the score to 18-3. The final four points came on kills by Van Winden and freshman Madeleine Gates and two Cal attack errors to bring the lead to 22-3. A Van Winden kill on the Bruins' second match point finished up the 25-6 win. It marked the lowest point total allowed in a non-fifth set for the Bruins since 2005 (30-6 vs. Oregon State). Van Winden had three kills, Felix added three blocks and Formico posted nine digs, as the Bruins hit .292 and held the Bears to a -.300 percentage.
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The Bruins wrap up their four-match road trip on Saturday at #9 Stanford. UCLA is tied for first in the Pac-12 standings with the Cardinal and Washington. The match will feature free live video on UCLABruins.com.
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