Women’s volleyball defeats Utah despite lineup error
Junior outside hitter Jordan Anderson produced a team-best 25 kills on Friday night against Utah. The Bruins’ leading hitter in each of their first nine conference matches had showed signs of slowing down recently, only leading the team in one of the past four matches. (Max Himmelrich/Daily Bruin staff)
By Grant Sugimura
Nov. 9, 2015 6:24 a.m.
Sometimes even coaches make mistakes.
Women’s volleyball coach Michael Sealy did just that during the fourth set of his team’s match against Utah Friday evening.
Heading into what would become the final set of the night, Sealy set his lineup incorrectly, forcing some Bruin players into positions they normally wouldn’t play.
“It’s every coach’s worst nightmare,” Sealy said. “Long story short, I (set the lineup) wrong.”
Making quick adjustments, the No. 9 Bruins (20-4, 11-3 Pac-12) rallied to beat the unranked Utes (9-16, 3-11) and win their second match of a four-match homestand.
On a night when the whole team played well, junior outside hitter Jordan Anderson led the way. With a team-leading 25 kills, Anderson quieted any recent doubts regarding fatigue or injury.
“I was feeling good, but it doesn’t matter if I’m the kill leader,” Anderson said. “We’ve been winning and everyone goes through their ups and downs. I felt totally fine out there, felt normal as always, and I’m glad that all the cylinders were on today.”
With starter sophomore outside hitter Reily Buechler out, redshirt sophomore outside hitter Jessyka Ngauamo produced a solid game herself. Ngauamo notched 12 kills and nearly kept pace with Anderson through two sets.
“It was really good how we adapted to every situation we were thrown in,” Ngauamo said. “I’m just really grateful to be a part of a team that can really do that.”
Other notable performances came from freshman setter Zana Muno and freshman middle blocker Kyra Rogers. Muno posted her sixth straight double-double with a game-leading 47 assists and a team-leading 19 digs, while Rogers had nine kills, 14 digs and six blocks.
UCLA started strong, winning the first set by a score of 25-16 and posting an impressive .310 attack percentage.
Continuing their strong play, the Bruins won the second set, albeit by a closer margin of 25-20.
After a head-scratching third set loss, in which the Bruins never led, something was noticeably different in the fourth set.
The lineup error split up Anderson and senior defensive specialist Rachel Inouye and sometimes placed Anderson and Ngauamo on the court at the same time.
Once the UCLA coaches realized the mistake, they were able the remedy the problem slightly by changing up the substitution patterns. Despite the issue, the Bruins were unfazed.
“I told the girls in that first timeout, ‘This is coach’s worst nightmare and it’s time for you guys to help me out,’” Sealy said. “I needed them to absolutely save me on that. And they did.”
