Women’s volleyball spoils undefeated streak in loss against San Diego
Outside hitter Reily Buechler tied for the team lead in kills in Friday’s win, but the junior led the team in errors during Saturday’s loss. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By David Gottlieb
Sept. 11, 2016 1:13 p.m.
After putting together their best start in a decade, the Bruins have taken their first loss of 2016.
No. 7 UCLA women’s volleyball (7-1) continued its undefeated start with a sweep of UC Irvine (3-7) Friday, but couldn’t keep the streak going against No. 15 San Diego (5-2). The Bruins won the first set before falling to the Toreros 3-1 Saturday.
In Friday’s match against the Anteaters, the Bruins hit .368 on the match and leaned on their outside hitters, with senior Jordan Anderson and junior Reily Buechler each contributing 12 kills – tying for the team lead.
Opposite Torrey Van Winden made her college debut after missing the first six games of the season with injury. The freshman played in all three sets, hitting .267 with six kills.
UCLA only had seven errors during the whole match against UC Irvine, but committed 19 against San Diego the next night. Buechler led the team with eight errors directly following her one-error performance the night prior.
After two close games to start the match – 21-25 and 25-22 – San Diego led throughout sets three and four, outscoring UCLA 50-37 as they closed out the match.
The Bruins have two more nonconference games on the road before they kick off Pac-12 play at the Galen Center. UCLA plays Pepperdine on Tuesday and Long Beach State on Wednesday.
