Reserve player turns tide of momentum, spurs women’s volleyball to victory

Michael Sealy had tried to reverse the momentum.

But his team still trailed Washington State 16-8 in the third set, and the women’s volleyball coach was out of the usual options.

“We had already used both timeouts,” Sealy said. “We kept giving the same message but it wasn’t really happening.”

So Sealy turned to his bench, replacing starting sophomore outside hitter Reily Buechler with a reserve, redshirt sophomore Jessyka Ngauamo.

“Reily’s played a lot this year and teams have obviously been able to scout her a lot,” Ngauamo said. “They were sending two blockers up to her because they know she can terminate. …Throwing me in there sort of changed what they were looking at.”

It changed the game, too, as Ngauamo’s career-high five kills helped the No. 11 Bruins (11-3, 2-2 Pac-12) close out a straight-set victory with a comeback in the third set.

“She was able to step in and do amazing things, she turned the momentum around,” Sealy said of Ngauamo. “She has a great volleyball IQ, knows the game really well. …(It’s easy) to look at the stat line and see she hit well but if you watch video, you’re going to see that she’s standing everywhere she’s supposed to be every time.”

Ngauamo took advantage of the Cougar defense’s focus on junior middle blocker Claire Felix, recording her five kills on just 10 attempts and adding six digs. After missing all of last season with a back injury, the outside hitter had not posted a kill this season before Sunday.

“Pretty surreal,” Ngauamo said. “I think that’s the first time I’ve kind of really had an influence on the team in my three years here so it’s a cool feeling.”

Ngauamo’s performance was the bright spot of the weekend for UCLA, which turned in another disappointing performance against a top opponent on Friday night, falling in straight sets to No. 5 Washington.

The Bruins hit a paltry .070 on the night, with Buechler hitting -.318 and redshirt junior outside hitter Haley Lawless -.083. Junior outside hitter Jordan Anderson led the team with 13 kills, but on an unimpressive .089 hitting percentage.

“The hitters and setters weren’t in sync, there was no timing,” Sealy said. “It’s like in football, you have timing patterns, you’ve got to run a clean route, quarterback’s got to throw the right ball. We weren’t throwing the right ball or running clean routes.”

The Huskies, on the other hand, did plenty right. Washington middle blocker Lianna Sybeldon’s 13 kills and 7 block assists were emblematic of the size and skill that has vaulted Washington to national prominence.

“Their system’s better, they’re better at running their system,” Sealy said. “They’ve been doing the same thing for years so it’s pretty grooved, they don’t make a whole lot of mistakes.”

The Bruins made far more mistakes, posting 27 attack errors to the Huskies’ 14.

“When things get tight, they make the right decisions,” said Bruins redshirt sophomore setter Ryann Chandler. “They’re very, very disciplined whereas in the end, in the tight (situations), we can make some mistakes.”

The Washington loss came just over a week after UCLA fell to then-No. 3 USC in straight sets.

“Those teams, as of right now in this calendar month, are better than we are,” Sealy said. “I think our girls once again tried to be something different, or more than themselves, trying to force the issue. Just settle in, play our game. If it’s enough, great. If it’s not, so what? You’ve got to live with that.”