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Bruins Battle Back to Bounce Bears in Berkeley
October 27, 2014 | Women's Volleyball
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BERKELEY, Calif. - The 17th-ranked Bruins had a pair in double figures in both kills (senior Karsta Lowe, 23 and freshman Reily Buechler, 14) and digs (sophomore Taylor Formico, 16 and junior Karly Drolson, 13), as UCLA defeated California in four sets on Sunday at Haas Pavilion. Set scores were 21-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-18.
Lowe hit .314 and added eight digs for the Bruins (15-6, 6-4 Pac-12). Sophomore Claire Felix came off the bench to record nine kills and a .400 hitting percentage in just three sets. Senior Zoë Nightingale added eight kills and six blocks, while freshman Olga Strantzali posted eight kills. UCLA hit .279 for the match, with senior Julie Consani posting 54 assists and seven digs. Junior Rachel Inouye added six digs.
The Bruins scored the first point of the match on a bad Cal set, but it would be the visitors' only lead of the opener. The Golden Bears came back with five in a row, but UCLA stayed within range with a 6-2 run on two kills and a solo stuff for Nightingale, two Lowe kills and a Cal attack error. A 5-1 Bear run put them up by four, but a Consani/Nightingale block and back-to-back Lowe kills brought the deficit back to within one at 12-11.
But UCLA was unable to get back to even. At 15-14, the Golden Bears scored four in a row and never saw their lead dip below two for the rest of the set, winning the opener 25-21. Lowe had eight of the Bruins' 14 kills in the opener, while Nightingale added three. The Bruins were out-hit .250 to .200.
While the Bruins only led once in set one, they never trailed in set two, scoring the first four points on a Consani kill, a Lowe/Nightingale block, a Cal attack error and a Nightingale kill. The Golden Bears got to within a pair at 7-5, but would get no closer, as the Bruins reeled off five of six on kills by Lowe, Felix and Buechler and two Cal errors to make it 12-6.
At 15-10, an 8-3 run extended the Bruins' advantage to a set-best 10. Lowe and Strantzali each had two kills during the run, Felix and Buechler one apiece and two Cal attack errors made it 23-13. The Bruins would win the second 25-16 on a Lowe/Nightingale block. Nightingale recorded four kills in the second, while Strantzali added three, as the Bruins won the hitting battle .414 to .069.
The Bruins led early in set three, the Golden Bears came back to take the lead, but UCLA battled to win the set late. At 4-3, the Bruins went on a 4-1 run on a Felix kill and solo block and kills by Strantzali and Buechler to make it 8-4. UCLA's largest lead was five at 10-5 and 12-7 before Cal went on an 8-1 run to go ahead 15-13. Cal saw its lead grow to as many as three at 21-18, but UCLA came back.
Two Lowe kills and a Cal attack error evened the score at 21. It was tied again at 22 and 23 before the Golden Bears had a set point at 24-23. However, the Bruins scored the last three of the set to win the third 26-24. Kills from Strantzali and Felix earned a set point and Drolson recorded the Bruins' first ace of the match to close out the win. Lowe had eight kills in the third, Buechler and Felix five apiece and Strantzali posted three kills. Formico added six digs, as the Bruins were out-hit .303 to .283.
The only deficit for the Bruins in set four was one on three occasions. Equal at five, the Bruins scored four of the next five on kills by Lowe and Felix and two attack errors to go ahead 9-6. Cal trimmed its deficit to one at 10-9 and 15-14, but could not even the score.
Three in a row on kills by Consani and Felix and a Strantzali ace made it 18-14. The point of the match, lasting nearly a minute, resulted in a Consani/Nightingale block to make it 20-16. It would be one point in the midst of a 7-2 run to end the match, as the Bruins won the fourth 25-18. Up 22-18, kills by Buechler and Lowe gave the Bruins six match points and a Cal attack error finished off the win. Buechler led the Bruins with six kills, while Lowe added five, as the Bruins out-hit the Bears .256 to .095. Drolson and Formico each had six digs.
At long last, the Bruins will have their first home match on the Westwood campus next Friday when they host third-ranked Washington at 6 p.m. at the John Wooden Center. Free audio, video and live stats will be available on UCLABruins.com.
