UCLA women’s volleyball team breaks Stanford’s win streak
Sophomore opposite Rachael Kidder had a career-high 25 kills in UCLA’s upset win over No. 1 Stanford on Saturday, and had 17 kills in a loss to Cal on Friday.
Cal 3
UCLA 1
UCLA 3
Stanford 2
By Steven Breazeale
Oct. 11, 2010 1:30 a.m.
The UCLA women’s volleyball team is on the 24-hour rule.
The rule came into effect Saturday night, immediately after the Bruins upset No. 1 Stanford at Pauley Pavilion in five sets.
They were allowed to celebrate the win, but only for one day.
“In the locker room, (coach Mike Sealy) just told us it’s a 24-hour win. So you think about it for 24 hours and celebrate the crap out of it,” junior libero Lainey Gera said. “But you got to look forward to the next team.”
Gera, who matched up against Stanford’s senior outside hitter Alix Klineman, epitomized the Bruins’ efforts in the match. Klineman attempted to get kills to the right side in the first set and Gera responded with seven gritty digs.
The Bruins played power defense and forced the Cardinal to make mistakes in the first set. Stanford amassed 14 errors compared to the Bruins’ six, assuring a 25-21 victory.
But Stanford got more organized and hit .310 in the second, winning 25-16.
In the third, UCLA let a 9-3 lead become a 16-14 Stanford advantage.
Senior outside hitter Dicey McGraw had six kills in the set, but Stanford held on to the lead and seemed to have the match sealed with a 27-25 win.
It was something that looked eerily similar to Friday night’s match against No.7 Cal, when UCLA let a six-point lead, and the match, get away in the fourth set in Cal’s 25-18, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22 victory.
“We took the lead (against Cal) and all of a sudden we just … I don’t know, we just bonked,” freshman outside hitter Kelly Reeves said.
On the verge of another loss, sophomore opposite Rachael Kidder took over.
Against Cal, Kidder had a team- and career-high 17 kills. By the end of the fourth set against Stanford, she had 18 kills, and helped the Bruins force a fifth set.
Stanford looked tired and disorganized in the fifth, and Kidder capitalized with seven more kills, setting a new career high with 25.
With UCLA up 14-12, needing only one more point to win, it was only fitting that Kidder, who smashed a high set to an empty right corner in the Stanford back row, secured the 15-12 win and the upset.
“I knew I couldn’t let all the pressure and the loud stadium get into my head, but I had to stay calm the whole time,” Kidder said.
Kidder’s coach was pleased to see his team get a favorable result in yet another close match.
“We’ve played a lot of good teams very tight and not come through in the end. It was pretty big to play (Stanford) tight,” Sealy said.
The contrast between Stanford’s and UCLA’s energy was apparent in the final two sets, when the stakes were high and Stanford’s 15-game winning streak was on the line.
“I don’t think, at first, we came in thinking we were going to win at all, but we just knew we were going to fight as hard as we could,” Kidder said.
“And we knew that we weren’t going to let any balls hit the floor. … (The win) really shows how tough we can be.”
