Trojans lay siege to Pauley Pavilion
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 24, 1996 9:00 p.m.
Friday, October 25, 1996
VOLLEYBALL:
USC has defeated Bruins at home for two years straightBy Grace
Wen
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The UCLA and USC women’s volleyball teams are starting a trend
 a trend of losing at home.
Home court advantage hasn’t been much help the last two years,
since neither team has been able to muster a win at home. Last
year, USC beat UCLA for the first time in seven years at Pauley
Pavilion, but the Bruins returned the favor the following
month.
Three weeks ago, UCLA (13-8, 5-5 Pac-10) beat the Trojans in
enemy territory. But USC (13-5, 7-3) got its revenge Thursday
night. The Trojans swept the Bruins  15-11, 15-7, 15-11.
USC head coach Lisa Love said steady play was what made the
difference.
"We didn’t play so up and down," she said. "Throughout September
we played really well for a few points and really weird for a few
points. In this match, despite whatever happened, we at least
maintained an emotional, steady level."
The same could not be said for the Bruins. Digging the Trojans
on six consecutive plays, UCLA jumped out to a 6-2 lead in the
first game.
Following a USC time-out, a determined Trojan squad took the
court and control of the game, scoring 13 of the next 18 points to
close out game one.
"We came out fired up in the first game, considering they’re our
rivals and all, but the intensity kind of wore off towards the
end," UCLA junior Tanisha Larkin said.
Larkin, who recorded a double-double (13 kills, 12 digs), came
up with several timely plays during the match. But one player
wasn’t enough to counter the Trojan punch.
USC dominated all facets of the game  outblocking (13-4),
outhitting (.265-.161) and outdigging (67-58) the Bruins.
Trojan outside hitter Jennifer Kessy had another good match,
leading the Trojans in kills with 13, while setter Janice Mounts
posted 43 assists.
"(The match) wasn’t very good," UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski
said. "We didn’t do a lot of good things out there. ‘SC
outperformed us in all areas. We started out well and played with a
lot of fire, but it kind of faded and they just wore us down."
Banachowski tried different lineups and different setters,
subbing in Kim Coleman for Kelly Flannigan in game two and moving
Kara Milling from opposite to outside, but nothing worked.
"We just need to execute better," Banachowski said. "We need to
pass better so that we can run our offense. We need to serve
tougher and block better. I think we can play a lot better. We were
in position where we could’ve taken control of a couple of those
games and we didn’t and that was frustrating."
STEVE KIM/Daily Bruin
Tanisha Larkin is the only outside hitter to have played in
every match this year.
USC def. UCLA
15-11, 15-7, 15-11
