Wednesday, October 14, 1998
Bruins snuff out Sun Devils, redeem loss to Wildcats
WVOLLEYBALL: After close defeat to Arizona, team bounces back to
win against ASU
By Nick Taylor
Daily Bruin Contributor
Ashley Bowles’ 14 kills led UCLA (4-9, 4-3 in Pac-10 play) to an
easy three-set victory (15-11, 15-3, 15-2) over Arizona State on
Sunday, but the bigger news was the five-set loss to Arizona on
Friday night.
The Bruins gave all they had against the No. 18 Wildcats (14-1,
6-1 in Pac-10) but faltered in the key moments in the deciding
fifth set loss (15-10, 10-15, 17-15, 5-15, 16-14).
Coming into this game, UCLA had won more matches than the
Wildcats (69-63), and the Bruins came into the deciding fourth set
with momentum. But as has been the case against all top-ranked
opponents (UCLA is a combined 0-9 against Top-20 teams, all on the
road), the Bruins were not able to come up with that final
kill.
Not that the Bruins didn’t try. Bowles and Kristee Porter led
UCLA’s offense with 20 kills apiece, and they overcame a tough
third-set loss (15-17) to storm back into the match in the fourth.
But Arizona was able to overcome the threat.
Allison Napier topped the Wildcats with a career-high 21 kills
and a .341 kill percentage, and setter Dana Barkholder had 56
assists and came within four kills of a triple-double.
So far this season the Bruins have exhibited tremendous
resiliency by bouncing back after close losses; in this case, the
Bruins took out their frustrations on Arizona State. After a close
first set, (15-11), UCLA dominated the match, taking 30 of the last
35 points. Bowles led the team with 14 kills and 13 digs to notch
her fourth double-double, and outside hitting partner Porter added
12 kills.
UCLA hit .435 in the third game, with only two errors, and
finished at .208 for the game. Amy Nihipali also added three solo
blocks and five block assists to clog the middle of the Bruin
defense.
UCLA was also able to get some of its reserves in the game, with
Chaska Potter getting some playing time and responding with six
block assists. UCLA’s defense was stout throughout the sets, and
the Sun Devils hit a combined .000 for the game.
The Bruins topped the match in blocks, 12-2, and held Arizona
State’s leading hitter, Jami Coughlin, to only 7 kills and 8 digs.
UCLA raised its record to 4-3 in the conference, and Arizona State
fell to 7-8, 4-4 in the conference.
The good news is that the Bruins will be coming home for three
home games this week, as they will face the Washington schools on
Friday and Sunday.
The bad news is that they will face fourth-ranked UC Santa
Barbara. While UCLA has come up just short against the top teams
this year, all those games were on the road, and the Bruins did not
have the benefit of their home crowd to will them to victory.
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