Possible upset of Pepperdine unrealized after late game falters

Not even a Tony Danza sitcom could end more suddenly then the
UCLA women’s volleyball team’s season did Saturday
night.

Poised to upend its second top-10 opponent in two days, the No.
21 Bruins (20-14) instead collapsed like a folding chair against
No. 7 Pepperdine (25-6), as the Waves reeled off an 8-1 run late in
game four to advance to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I think we tripped over our youth at that point,”
UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski said. “We had a couple of
communication errors that gave the momentum back to Pepperdine when
we looked to be in a very good situation to win that fourth
game.”

Trailing two games to one, the Bruins had Pepperdine on the
ropes in the fourth game after tallying three straight points to
take a 19-17 lead. But with momentum on their side, the Bruins
faltered at the worst possible time.

The Waves’ Katy Daly cut the lead to one with a clean
crosscourt kill, and then Pepperdine caught a break when UCLA
freshman Nancy Barba smashed an overpass into the net. Moments
later the Waves broke the deadlock after another Barba miscue led
to an easy putaway for 6-foot-2-inch middle blocker Lindsay
Hache.

After a pair of Pepperdine points sandwiched around a Katie
Wilkins service error, the Waves took control of the match for
good. Pepperdine took a 23-20 lead when Stacy Rouwenhorst buried
another UCLA overpass.

While the Bruins battled back twice to draw within two, the
damage was done; Pepperdine ultimately sealed the game and the
match.

“We could see it in their eyes that they were starting to
question themselves,” Hache said. “We stayed really
steady and stable, and just battled harder than they
did.”