Missed opportunities cost women’s volleyball in losses to Cal, Stanford

The last time the UCLA women’s volleyball team took on California , the Golden Bears hung around, managing to take crucial points and win the match 3-0. It was the same story in this weekend’s rematch, as the tenacious Bears stole another tight victory from the Bruins.

In a nearly three-hour match in which the Bruins (12-10, 3-9 Pac-12) fought back from a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set, the team was unable to overcome the California Golden Bears (14-7, 7-5), who for the second time this season came back from multiple set points to knock off the Bruins 3-2. The loss came two days after UCLA dropped a four-set match to No. 6 Stanford (16-5, 10-3) at Maples Pavilion.

“It was a bummer,” said sophomore libero Karly Drolson of the weekend. “We really wanted it, and we could have easily taken it, we just couldn’t put the ball away, couldn’t execute.”

In the second match, the Bruins led 9-8 in the decisive fifth set and needed six more points to secure a victory. But Cal, who had come back twice from set points earlier in the match, made its biggest comeback yet, going on a 5-0 run to pull ahead, 13-9. UCLA fought back, narrowing the score to as close as 13-11 – but the Bears were able to hold fast and win the set, 15-12.

“It’s a game of matchups. If Cal starts in a certain rotation, it gives us a matchup advantage, if we start in a certain rotation, it gives them a matchup advantage,” said coach Michael Sealy. “Cal made the better of the matchup at that point in the game.”

The fifth set was forced by the Bruins’ 25-18 victory in the fourth set, which ensured they would have a chance to win the game. That set was a positive rebound after the Bruins, despite having a 24-23 set point, dropped three straight points to lose the third set, 26-24.

The Bruins had won the first set comfortably and seemed poised to go up 2-0 late in the second. However, with the score at 24-23, consecutive errors by Drolson and senior middle blocker Mariana Aquino allowed the Bears back into the set, and a kill by Cal junior Christina Higgins knotted the match up at 1-1.

“I think it came down to our passing, we just couldn’t get a hittable ball,” said senior outside hitter Kelly Reeves of the two missed set points. “You have to give credit to Cal though – I mean, they had some great blocks, some unbelievable digs.”

The missed opportunities were reminiscent of the match two days before against Stanford, in which the Bruins could not finish the first set despite hanging with the Cardinal all the way to the 28-26 finish. After losing the second set 25-19, the Bruins managed to win the third 25-22 to force a fourth set. In that affair, the Cardinal surged ahead of the Bruins, winning it easily to take the match. It was a much better showing for UCLA than the last time these two teams squared off, when the Cardinal dominated the Bruins in a 3-0 match that was one of UCLA’s worst showings of the year.

The marked improvement in these performances, compared to when the Bruins played these two teams earlier this year, was one of the positives team members took from this 0-2 weekend. Reeves in particular took pride in the Bruins’ effort even in defeat, citing that as the biggest thing to carry forward into Friday and Sunday’s matches against Oregon State and Oregon, respectively.

“We were playing tough through and through, and a few little miscues just popped up,” she said. “It happens, you grow from it, learn from it, and just keep playing.”