University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Open 17th NCAA Tourney with Win over Virginia
December 5, 1998
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The No. 15 ranked Bruins opened their 17th NCAA appearance with a 3-1 (15-7, 15-6, 14-16, 15-5) win over first time NCAA participant the University of Virginia in an NCAA first round match tonight at The Thunderdome on the UC Santa Barbara Campus. UCLA improved its overall record to 16-11 while Virginia finishes the season 26-8. The Bruins advance to Sunday's second round where they will face No. 11 UC Santa Barbara, who won 3-0 (15-4, 15-7, 15-11) over Santa Clara in tonight's second match. A rematch of last year's NCAA second round match, Sunday's action starts at 4 p.m. in The Thunderdome.
Highlighting the UCLA standouts again tonight was Pac-10 Freshman of the Year selection Kristee Porter who led all hitters with 30 kills tonight to register her fifth 30-plus outing of the season. Porter also collected 13 digs and served three aces, including the final point of the match. Fellow rookie and All-Pac-10 choice, Ashley Bowles added 18 kills on .318 hitting and a team-high 14 digs. The Bruins third All-Pac-10 pick, sophomore Elisabeth Bachman led all blockers with six, including three solo, and hit .375 with 12 kills. Also stepping into the spotlight was sophomore Amy Nihipali who posted an impressive .579 attack percentage with 12 kills and only one error in 19 attempts. Distributing the ball and providing 54 assists, five digs and a block was setter Erika Selsor, a Pac-10 All-Freshman honorable mention selection.
The Bruins also received solid defensive and transition game play from senior Chaska Potter who had 11 digs and four blocks, sophomore Michelle Quon with 11 digs and an ace, and senior Mandi Lawson with eight digs. Leading the way for the Cavaliers were senior Claire Folga and sophomore Andrea Fischer who tied for the team-high with 11 kills each. Sophomore Deanna Zwarich was impressive with a .500 hitting percentage and nine kills to go along with four blocks. Junior Jessica Parsons also totaled nine kills and led the squad with five blocks. Sophomore Katie Jones chipped in five kills and registered a team-best 12 digs. Junior setter Mary Francis Scott delivered 35 assists.
UCLA registered an impressive .355 team attack percentage in the match, hitting .355, .625, .194 and .457 in the games. Virginia was held to a .110 team attack percentage, with its best effort being .241 in game three. The Bruins opened the night by scoring the first four points, but Virginia answered with the next four and took a short-lived 5-4 lead. Leading 8-7, UCLA scored the last seven points of game one to post the 15-7 win. UCLA's Porter opened the second game with three straight kills, assisted on a block for the fourth, then picked up a kill for the fifth in the first rotation as the Bruins cruised to a 14-3 lead. Virginia gained considerable momentum by holding off game point three times and closing to 14-6 before Bowles put away the final point for the 15-6 UCLA win.
Virginia did not want to go home without some success after reaching its first NCAA Tournament, so the Cavaliers rallied in game three from a 0-4 deficit to take an 11-7 lead. UCLA tied the score at 12 all and went ahead 14-13, but UVA fended off two match points then tied the score at 14 all with one of its nine service aces. The Cavaliers then scored the final two pints to claim the game 16-14.
UCLA regrouped and came out quick in the decisive fourth game sprinting to an 8-1lead behind the play of Bowles. Virginia scored the next four points to make it 8-5, but UCLA claimed the final seven punctuated by three kills and an ace by Porter down the stretch.