On Saturday, in front of a large crowd in Pauley Pavilion, the UCLA women’s volleyball team battled No.1 Stanford in five high-energy sets and pulled off an unexpected upset, toppling the Cardinal 25-21, 16-25, 25-27, 25-23, 15-12.
The No. 12 Bruins (12-4, 2-3 Pac-10) also played Friday against an explosive Cal offense and were defeated by the Bears in four sets, 18-25, 25-18, 15-25, 22-25.
After being down two sets to one Saturday against the Cardinal (14-1, 5-1 Pac-10), the Bruins rallied and forced a pivotal fifth set. Sophomore opposite Rachael Kidder had a team and career-high 25 kills, seven of them coming in the fifth set, and junior libero Lainey Gera had 25 digs and four assists. Kidder topped her previous career-best of 17 kills, which she set during UCLA’s loss to Cal on Friday.
Early in the match, the Bruins played aggressively and with the help of 14 Stanford errors, won the opening set 25-21.
Stanford went on to play their methodical style in the second and third sets. Led by senior outside hitter Alix Klineman’s 28.5 kills and 20 digs, the Cardinal took the next two sets, 16-25 and 25-27.
With huge efforts from Kidder, Gera and junior middle blocker Katie Camp, the Bruins came storming back to take the fourth and fifth sets and secured the upset, winning 25-23 and 15-12, respectively.
In Friday’s game against No. 7 Cal (15-0, 5-0 Pac-10), the Bruins never got into an offensive groove. UCLA kept it close in the first set until Cal’s offense took over and went on a late 3-0 run that ended the set at 25-18 and stopped a late Bruin rally.
The Bruins turned the tables on Cal in the second, and Kidder led the way to the 25-18 second set victory.
The third set got out of the Bruins’ hands in a hurry. Leading 9-7, the Bears scored six straight points and put the set out of reach. Cal’s biggest lead of the night came later in the third when they led 24-13, and they went on to win the set 25-15.
UCLA had the lead in the fourth, but Cal rallied for a 7-0 run to go up 24-18 and won the set 25-22.