UCLA falls despite break in USC’s 38-game streak

  BRIDGET O’BRIEN /Daily Bruin Senior Staff Kristee
Porter, shown blocking against Washington, tallied 30
kills against USC on Friday. USC d. UCLA 15-11,
15-11, 8-15, 15-11

By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The battle started even before the match began. It was a match
that spanned four games and more than two and a half hours, in
which the Bruins eventually lost to rival USC 15-11, 15-11, 8-15,
15-11.

With most fans packed into the small North Gymnasium sporting
red, it was fitting that while the Trojan warm-up hits were each
capped by loud cheers, those of the Bruins elicited boos.

“We knew we had to start the game focused and play well to
get the crowd out of it,” Kristee Porter said.

“We just didn’t come ready to play. It wasn’t
in our preparation this week.”

USC was bigger, they were in their house, and the 1,057 fans
lining the court were mostly theirs. The Bruins gave it all they
had, but in the end they came up short.

“It’s disappointing to lose a match, especially to
“˜SC, but I thought we did a lot of good things in the face of
adversity over here,” UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski
said.

Despite snapping the Trojans’ 38-game winning streak, the
match still goes down as a loss in the UCLA record book.

“Probably our sole consolation is taking a game off of
“˜SC,”

Banachowski continued. “They were pretty proud about the
fact that they hadn’t lost a game yet, though I would have
liked to have gotten a couple more.”

The match started with “˜SC rattling off four unanswered
points before the Bruins posted their first point of the match.

With Porter on the sideline for the game’s first fourteen
points because she violated team rules, the Bruins mixed up their
offensive positions to accommodate the change in line-up.

Freshman setter Krystal McFarland stepped into the line-up and
posted three kills, seven digs and one block assist in her first
start as a Bruin.

“Krystal is one of our next-best ball handlers and
that’s what we wanted, to be a better ball-handling, digging
team out there on the court tonight,” Banachowski said.

Though Porter didn’t step onto the court until the score
was 11-3, she swung for a match-high 30 kills, the 12th time
she’s done so in her career.

But even Porter’s numbers couldn’t bring UCLA to
victory.

Game one highlighted hard hitting from the Trojans and a battle
from the Bruins to convert a point. After posting one point on the
board, UCLA did not earn another until USC took nine away from
them.

Outside hitter Ashley Bowles powered away at the back line,
serving for seven of the Bruins’ 11 total points, including
two aces. Bowles also added four kills and five digs in game one.
Middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman also established herself as a
steady force in game one, consistently nailing the quick back set
from Erika Selsor and racking up six kills and one solo block in
the game.

USC took the second game 15-11 as well, despite the quick 5-1
lead that the Bruins had. Once the Trojans took the lead at 6-5,
they never looked back.

But after the break in between games two and three, the Bruins
came back to play like they knew they could.

It was Porter’s time to shine and she seemed to use the
crowd to pump her up.

Tallying 12 of her 30 kills in game three alone, Porter was all
over the court, and notched five digs, one solo block and one block
assist along the way.

UCLA took game three 15-8, which featured the highest UCLA team
hitting percentage of that night at .400.

Breaking “˜SC’s 38-game winning streak and holding
off a defeat, the Bruins entered game four, again with their backs
against the wall.

“We made good runs at them and I thought we were ready to
take a game from them,” Banachowski said.

“And once we took a game, I thought we’d be able to
steam roll that and take the match, but I think we got a little
tired and “˜SC tightened up their defense and played very
well.”

The two teams kept it close, UCLA tying up the score again and
again as the numbers climbed to five. But then the Trojans went on
a 3-0 run after a series of widely-hit balls and one into the
block.

USC kept scoring and the Bruins kept following but never got
quite close enough to take the game away. Though UCLA held the
Trojans off from nine straight game-point attempts, while the
Bruins scored their own 10th and 11th points, the Trojans proved
victorious at home.

“It’s the last time we play the Bruins at home. As a
senior, it’s big,” USC outside hitter Janae Henry said.
“The Bruins played an outstanding match and we played well
ourselves. I don’t have a word to describe how I feel.
I’m so excited.”

The Trojan blockers were key to their win, finishing the night
with 15 blocks to UCLA’s nine. For USC it paid off to play
with a 6-2 offense where a taller player rotates in when a setter
gets to the front row.

Though the Bruins suffered their second conference defeat, they
played well under duress. With the fans and the band and the yellow
lights that are more fitting in a 1950s high school gym, the UCLA
women’s volleyball team proved they were a challenge for a
very talented Trojan squad.

“I think we showed what possibilities lie ahead for
us,” Banachowski said.

“(USC) hit really well and got themselves out of trouble.
We put them in trouble and you’ve got to give the Trojans
credit for that.”

But there’s always next time.