NICOLE MILLER/Daily Bruin UCLA d. USC 34-32,
33-31, 30-17
By Amanda Fletcher
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The way things started, no one would’ve ever guessed a
three-game sweep was in the works.
But after taking two tough games, including a four point
comeback while No. 4 USC (9-4, 9-4 MPSF) stood at game point, the
No. 2 UCLA Bruins (13-4, 7-2) defeated the crosstown Trojans 34-32,
33-31, 30-17.
“We had two swing games and we didn’t
convert,” USC Head Coach Pat Powers said. “The second
game just took a lot out of us. We should’ve won
it.”
Each of the first two games came down to the wire, pushing into
extra points. With the Trojans on a six-game winning streak that
included victories over No. 1 BYU and No. 6 Long Beach State
““ two teams that have previously defeated the Bruins ““
UCLA wasn’t expecting the hottest team in the league to just
roll over.
“I think the fact that we came back and ended up beating
them ““ that took the wind out of their sails,”
sophomore outside hitter Cameron Mount said.
The match started rocky for both teams in the serving
department. By the end of the night, UCLA had missed the court 23
times, while the Trojans fouled up 17 times.
Once their serving picked up, the Bruins added some powerful
blocks and really took control of the match.
“This team knows with a big serve and a big block they can
come back,” Head Coach Al Scates said.
In game two, the Bruins faltered and the Trojans steadily pulled
away, leading by as much as seven at one point.
With the Bruins down by four and the Trojans standing at game
point, senior captain Mark Williams went back to serve.
Four serves and two aces later, the game was tied up. A Mount
kill and an Adam Naeve stuff gave the Bruins the critical second
game.
“That’s the best comeback I’ve ever seen in
rally-point scoring,” Scates said. “I’ve been to
the Olympics, the World Championships where they’ve been
using rally scoring for years and I’ve never seen a team do
that before.”
Williams, who hasn’t yet reached peak form after sitting
out for four weeks with an injury, reaffirmed his importance to the
team.
“Williams is quite frankly not hitting the ball well, but
he’s so valuable on the court as a leader and with his
serving,” Scates said.
By the third game, the Trojans were mentally defeated. Helped by
a string of USC errors including a collision with middle blocker
Mark Dusharme that sent setter Miles McGann rolling under the net,
the Bruins easily finished off the match.
“Just about any team would let down in a game like
that,” Scates said. “It’s tough to get back up
when you thought you’d win.”
UCLA also held the Trojans to a zero hitting percentage in the
third-game blowout while packing a .545 clip of their own
“It takes a lot to come back from something like that.
They just couldn’t come back mentally,” freshman libero
Adam Shrader said.
Naeve led the Bruins with 13 kills and six blocks on the night.
Mount followed with 12 kills.