Wildcats hang onto conference’s top spot

UCLA 10 USC 0 UCLA 10 USC
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By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Contributor

Just as the Bruins were ready to move into the penthouse of the
Pacific 10 Conference volleyball standings, its current occupants
decided they didn’t want to leave.

After playing a well-executed first game, the No. 7 Bruins (19-6
overall, 13-3 Pac-10) fell apart and lost to the conference-leading
No. 3 Arizona Wildcats (23-3, 15-2) 6-15, 15-2, 15-4, 15-6 before
1,160 Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion. After emerging from the
first game with a sterling 0.465 hitting percentage, the Bruins
ended the match hitting 0.225. Conversely, the visiting Wildcats
improved from 0.244 after the first game to 0.441 by match’s
end.

“We had the momentum in the first game, we came out fiery.
It just wasn’t on our side tonight,” junior outside
hitter Ashley Bowles said.

The Bruins started out the first game neck-and-neck with
Arizona. It was tied at five when the Bruins took off on a 10-1 run
to end the game. The game concluded on two service aces by senior
defender Michelle Quon, who, along with fellow senior Elisabeth
Bachman, was honored on Saturday at “Senior Night” for
her contributions during her Bruin career.

After the first game, things turned south for UCLA. The home
team scored the first point of the second game on an Arizona
miscue, then saw the Wildcats put up 12 consecutive points before
the Bruins notched their next, and last, point of the game.

The story was the same in game three. UCLA scored the first
point, followed by a 7-0 Arizona run. In game four, the Bruins
worked to a 2-1 advantage before Arizona poured on the points and
never looked back.

“Our team just got a lot tougher. We just decided that we
didn’t really play hard the first game and we’re going
to change that,” Arizona junior setter Dana Burkholder
said.

However, Burkholder knows that the lopsided score in the final
three games is not the true measure of the Bruins’
talent.

“They’re one of the best teams in the country. They
have some big time hitters. They play really great defense. They
play a good game,” she said.

Bruin head coach Andy Banachowski cited as one of the factors in
the loss the deep serving technique that Arizona uses, making it
more difficult for the receiving team to handle.

“We really had difficulty handling Arizona’s deep
serves. We lost our momentum from that first game. They really
built up a lot of confidence,” Banachowski said.

“This performance tonight will make the team a little bit
more attentive, realize that we have some more work to do,”
he added. “Last time we had a loss, we came back and put
together a good win streak.”

The 12 points that the Bruins garnered in the three games they
lost Saturday night were the fewest earned in any three games lost
since a 1991 defeat at Stanford. That Bruin team shook off the loss
and ended up winning the national title.

In Friday’s match, the Bruins handily defeated the Arizona
State Sun Devils (17-10, 9-8 Pac-10) 15-12, 15-10, 15-7 before 898
at Pauley Pavilion.

Though the match was not a runaway victory for UCLA, Banachowski
knows that it was nevertheless a win.

“We did what it takes to win out here. We won in three,
we’re happy with that,” he said.

The split puts UCLA back in third in the Pac-10 standings, with
three conference defeats compared to two for Arizona and USC. To
finish the Pac-10 season, UCLA and USC visit the Washington schools
this weekend, while Arizona and Arizona State finish by playing in
their rivalry game Saturday. Though the Bruins could still win the
Pac-10 title, it would require some unlikely slip-ups on the part
of Arizona and USC this weekend.