With workmanlike efficiency, the UCLA women’s volleyball team methodically went about its business in dismantling its first two foes in the NCAA tournament. The Bruins swept San Diego 3-0 (30-20, 30-17, 30-24) on Friday in Pauley Pavilion, and kept up the pace in sweeping UC Irvine (30-24, 30-28, 30-22) Saturday. With the two victories, the team will travel to Lincoln, Neb. to face No. 9 seeded Nebraska in its home gym.
“We’re excited about traveling to Lincoln,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “Nebraska’s always big, and they always have a strong attacking team. It’s going to be a challenge; they’ll have probably 5,000 people there cheering for them.”
UCLA’s sideline demeanor throughout the weekend suggested the relative ease with which the Bruins cruised past their opponents. Players were smiling, loose and relaxed as they watched their teammates on the court dispatch two opponents that were willing, if unable, to mount a serious threat to No. 8 seed UCLA.
Behind a dominating blocking effort and a smooth offensive performance, the Bruins (23-8) dominated USD in virtually every facet of the game. The Torreros (17-13) were out-hit .342 to .101 as a team, and perhaps more ominously, were out-blocked 13 to 3. In its previous four games, UCLA had not registered more than seven blocks, and were badly out-blocked in each of those contests.
“I was disappointed in the way we came out,” USD coach Jennifer Petrie said. “We were hoping to compete better.”
Senior middle blocker Cira Wright had a standout performance, with an incredible eight block assists to go along with 13 kills on near-perfect .632 hitting.
UC Irvine (24-10) played the Bruins much more evenly, no doubt inspired by the raucous Anteater crowd that showed up to Pauley. The visiting team received loud support and ovations from their fans throughout the night, but simply could not overcome UCLA, and were slowly worn down by the Bruins’ athleticism.
“We played with great intensity. As things got close, our inexperience showed,” Irvine coach Charlie Brande said. “Still, we played maybe our best match of the year. We were very competitive.”
Irvine stuck close to UCLA, hitting a respectable .242 while the Bruins hit .295 as a team. The Anteaters also managed to out-block UCLA eight to six. Most impressively, Irvine received quite a performance out of their best player, junior outside hitter Kelly Wing.
Wing, despite standing no more than 5-foot-10, set the single season kill record for Irvine last season, and had a match-high 18 kills on .350 hitting to go along with 13 digs, two solo blocks and an ace. In the end, however, it was at the service line that the Bruins were able to find the separation necessary to put away a plucky Irvine squad.
“Being able to come up with some aces was really what enabled us to separate each game,” Banachowski said.
Conversely, after a hard-fought second game in which the Anteaters stormed back from a five-point deficit at 23-18 to climb within one point at 29-28, a service error by Wing let UCLA off the hook.
Murphy served back-to-back aces in the third game to give UCLA a 20-15 lead and the extra separation needed to ice the game and the match.
“We realized it was our last game at home, and we wanted to go out on a good night,” Lyman said.
Now UCLA must turn its attention to Nebraska. The last time the two teams met was in 2001, with the Cornhuskers winning in a sweep. It remains to be seen if the Bruins can avoid a similar fate in the third round of the NCAA tournament.