Thursday, August 28th, 2008

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UCLA’s Matt Barnes knifes through the Pepperdine defense during last season’s game at Pauley Pavilion. Like other mid-majors, the Waves are frustrated with their inability to schedule to schedule marquee non-conference opponents.

UCLA’s Matt Barnes knifes through the Pepperdine defense during last season’s game at Pauley Pavilion. Like other mid-majors, the Waves are frustrated with their inability to schedule to schedule marquee non-conference opponents.

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.”