Strong second set powers women’s volleyball to win over Arizona State
Junior outside hitter Reily Buechler led the Bruins with 12 kills and did not commit an error in Friday’s win over Arizona State. (Daily Bruin file photo)
By Kelsey Angus
Oct. 8, 2016 11:32 a.m.
Coach Michael Sealy shocked everyone when he sent the UCLA women’s volleyball team onto the court in a 6-2 rotation in the Bruins’ conference-opening win against USC two and a half weeks ago.
Friday night, he did it again.
“When we first decided to go to a 6-2, we wrote up a bunch of different options on the board,” Sealy said. “That was one of the potentials.”
The new rotation proved successful for No. 18 UCLA (12-3, 3-2 Pac-12) in its 3-0 rout of Arizona State (7-11, 0-6).
[Related: New formation powers women’s volleyball past USC in four-set battle]
Last time Sealy made the big switch, the setters substituted for the right side hitters. In this new version of the 6-2, the setters swapped with the middle blockers, leaving senior libero Taylor Formico to play back row for the outside hitters instead of the middles.
Sealy said that the main benefits of this rotation are that sophomore opposite Zana Muno and freshman defensive specialist Savvy Simo have more opportunities to make plays in the back row.
Set one started out rocky for the Bruins. Although they were able to come out on top 25-23, nine hitting errors made it difficult to create a significant lead.
Redshirt junior setter Ryann Chandler said that her team had been focusing on being disciplined on the little things in this week’s practices, and that showed as the Bruins improved drastically after the first set.
In set two alone, UCLA’s front line tallied seven blocks compared to just two in the first.
“We came out and got some good blocks in the second and that totally just sparked the momentum and we kept on rolling with that,” said junior outside hitter Reily Buechler.
Another difference from the first set was the improvement of the accuracy of the Bruins’ hitting. In set one, UCLA hit just .143, but the Bruins hit .350 in a 25-12 set-two win. On the match, Buechler posted a .571 hitting percentage on 12 kills with no errors.
“In sets two and three we were much better at recognizing the situation,” Sealy said. “Like, ‘Hey everything’s perfect, I’m going to swing hard.’ Or, ‘Hey I’m falling backwards, the sets not where I need it, I better keep this one in play.’”
The Sun Devils fought to extend the match in set three, scraping their way to a 23-23 tie. Consecutive kills from seniors middle blocker Claire Felix and outside hitter Jordan Anderson closed out the match, as UCLA won 25-23.
The Bruins now look ahead to Sunday when they’ll face Arizona. Sealy said that he hopes the atmosphere will be similar to Friday’s.
“The biggest thing tonight is that’s the best student section we’ve had in seven years,” Sealy said. “That was unbelievable.”
