JESSE PORTER/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Senior middle
blocker Elisabeth Bachman goes up for the kill off
a quick set in the Bruins’ three-game sweep over USC Friday.
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
They fought half as hard as they did last time, and this time
they won because they were in control from the beginning. And
that’s what happens when all six players play together
through three games and two hours of volleyball.
“We were able to keep our intensity and focus for the
entire game,” said outside Kristee Porter. “We
weren’t concerned with what they were doing, but rather our
game.”
Entering the match, No. 8 UCLA had a chance to take fate back
into its hands. And the Bruins did, in front of their biggest home
crowd of the season and against their rivals, the No. 3 USC
Trojans.
“I feel incredible ““ it’s the ultimate.
It’s why you play volleyball,” said sophomore outside
hitter Lauren Fendrick after the team’s three-game sweep of
USC.
The Bruins ran away with a seven-point lead to open the match,
and USC was awarded its first point after a mishandled ball call on
the Bruins. The Trojans got into the game for the first time,
tallying two more points on the board, but UCLA answered with six
more.
It wasn’t until the score read 13-3 that the Trojans
showed up to play. They had a six-point run of their own, which
included three kills by Antoinette Polk, to bring the score to 14-9
and spurred the Bruin’s only time-out of the game. After two
sideouts were forced by Porter kills, Porter served the winning
point, capped by a Fendrick shot down the line to make the score
15-9.
Game two started out as a closer contest than the first, until
the Bruins pulled away from a 2-2 tie, ignited by a Fendrick kill
and an ace from freshman defensive specialist Stacy Lee.
The Trojans did not score their third and last point until the
Bruins had 13 of their own, and the game closed out at 15-3 on a
block from junior outside hitter Ashley Bowles.
And then came the third game. It was a 40-minute battle that was
close at the beginning, with the score tied at four and again at
six. But the Bruins made their run for the finish line, scoring
seven unanswered points to bring the score to 13-6.
The Trojans, however, weren’t going to go that easily.
USC fought back to bring the score to 14-13, and fought off six
match-point attempts by the Bruins. With each rally, the tension
built a bit more.
Once the Trojans reached 13 points, the Bruins continued to
reclaim the ball with smart play from Porter and Fendrick, who
tipped the ball over the block when USC was expecting a strong
attack from UCLA.
After the fifth sideout, Fendrick, who already had two aces on
the night, was at the service line. The Bruins thought they had the
match, but a questionable call on the line gave the ball back to
USC again.
Once the Bruins reclaimed the serve, though, senior Michelle
Quon stepped back to serve and the game ended on Porter’s
20th kill.
After the Bruins rushed the floor to celebrate their win, they
basked in their victory.
“I could feel it out there as soon as we started,”
Fendrick said. “It’s just a feeling that you have in
your gut ““ you know you’re not going to lose.
It’s totally your game. You’re in control.”
The Bruins were in control throughout the match. They led in
hitting percentage in all three games, averaging .284 on the night,
and held the Trojans to just .147 overall. UCLA tallied 15 more
kills than USC, 72-57, and out-dug them 66-54.
“Our team played so well tonight. It was a full team
effort out there tonight,” said senior middle blocker
Elisabeth Bachman, who finished with 16 kills and four blocks on
the night.
“All six of us were working as one unit and it’s so
exciting to come out with the win in front of our home
crowd,” she said.
One advantage that USC had over the Bruins was its 11 blocks to
UCLA’s 10, but that was a far cry from the 15-9 dominance
that the Trojans had in their last match-up.
“The fact that we were familiar with them helped
tremendously,” said UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski.
“We had to perform better from the start. We didn’t get
off to a good start last time. Everything just went according to
plan.”
If the plan included four Bruins finishing with double-digit
kills and two with double-doubles, then it was a mission
accomplished.
With their sweep of the Trojans, the Bruins are in position to
take the conference title. If UCLA wins the the rest of its regular
season games, and Arizona defeats the Trojans, the Pac-10 crown
will belong to UCLA.
Their destiny is in their hands.