• printer friendly
• mail this article
• iPod format
• digg

Photo

Redshirt Sophomore Krystal McFarland stretches out to make a return against Pepperdine in Saturday's game.

If the UCLA women’s volleyball team’s dominating win against Long Beach State was a surprise, then a victory over the Pepperdine Waves in the second round of the NCAA tournament might have left some people wondering if that was a pig that just landed at LAX.

Unfortunately for the Bruins, however, the runways are safe for now.

Despite one of their best efforts of the season, UCLA came up empty toward the end of Friday’s match, and the Waves won a hotly contested battle in four games. Even Pepperdine head coach Nina Matthies was impressed by the way UCLA played.

“I told my team that was just a little bit more than we wanted,” she said. “It could have gone either way. This year we were just the better team.”

Early in the first game it seemed the Waves would have little trouble dispatching the upstart Bruins. UCLA’s main strength, their defense, appeared totally unable to stop Lyndsey Hache and Katie Wilkins, the big outside hitters for Pepperdine, as the Waves hit .333 in the first game.

After a long rally, a Pepperdine kill pushed the lead to 19-12 and then to 21-13. But instead of simply rolling over, as the Bruins had when the two teams played in Pauley Pavilion during the regular season, UCLA managed to stage an intense rally.

A kill by Brynn Murphy cut the score to 24-21 and prompted a Pepperdine timeout. UCLA got even closer, as another tremendous kill by Murphy narrowed the gap to 25-23. However, two costly errors by Brittany Ringel and Lauren Fendrick stymied the comeback effort, and the Waves went on to win 30-26.

Still, the momentum gathered in that rally carried over to the second game. The offense passed the ball crisply and set up easy kill opportunities.

More importantly, the defense turned things around. Chrissie Zartman began asserting herself and made a major impact defensively, helping to limit the Waves to .173 hitting percentage.

A booming kill by Fendrick gave the Bruins a 13-8 lead, and the Waves were never able to get any closer than four points throughout the rest of the game. Leading 26-21, a service error by Pepperdine ended any chance of a rally, and the Bruins cruised to a 30-23 victory.

In the critical third game, however, Pepperdine showed the form that earned them a No. 7 national ranking.

After a kill by Lauren Fendrick cut Pepperdine’s lead to 11-9, the Waves regained their offensive flow and jumped out to a 20-14 lead. Pepperdine ended the third with a 30-26 win.

The fourth game was nothing short of a slugfest. Early on, the Waves and Bruins essentially traded points and errors. The Bruins eventually got the upper hand and took a 19-17 lead.

With their momentum, UCLA quieted the large Pepperdine crowd and caused a stir among the Bruin fans in attendance. The Waves took a much-needed timeout, and it appeared the match would go to a tie-breaking fifth game.

However, the Bruins blinked during the crucial stretch period. Two errors by freshman Nancy Barba and a Pepperdine kill gave the lead back to the Waves, and at that point the Bruins began to self-destruct. Down 23-20, all six UCLA players watched as a soft, arcing serve from Pepperdine dropped in untouched for an ace.

The two point lead turned into a four point deficit, and the Bruins were unable to muster another comeback.

“It came down to execution and communication errors in that fourth game,” head coach Andy Banachowski said. “We battled them very well and they battled back. They came through when they needed to.”

In the final game of her collegiate career, Fendrick played brilliantly. She led all players with 20 kills, hit a solid .250, and also notched 17 digs and a solo block. Barely holding off tears, the senior was proud of the effort put out by her team, despite the loss.

“It’s definitely hard to end this way,” she said. “Everybody played really hard, and that was good to see. We came a long way, this season.”