Post by bigfan on Nov 21, 2006 14:16:47 GMT -5
Volleyball victorious against Pepperdine
JESSICA LUM/daily bruin senior staff
Nana Meriwether helped the No. 4 Bruins defeat No. 24 Pepperdine last night with strong performances both defensively and on offense.
By Allison Ho
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
aho@media.ucla.edu
The match may not have counted toward the Bruins' run for the Pac-10 title, but they sure did put up quite a fight against Pepperdine on Monday night.
The No. 4 Bruins were pushed to the limit by the No. 24 Waves in a five-game melee, eventually holding Pepperdine out 30-25, 26-30, 26-30, 30-24, 15-5 in front of a crowd of 677.
Though the Bruins won the first set, it was apparent that their passing had waned near the end of the first game. And by the second, their serve receive had noticeably begun to affect their ability to run their offense effectively. In the second and third sets, the Bruins hit for a meager .119 and .108 respectively, compared to their better first-game outing of .357.
"They served extremely well tonight," coach Andy Banachowski said. "We got a little rattled by their serving and it took us out of our offense."
Pepperdine, meanwhile, rode the arms of its West Coast Conference Player of the Week Sophia Milo and Rachel Lumsden. In the middle, Milo was virtually unstoppable with her step-out maneuver, as the Bruin blockers were unable to get up in time. She added 16 kills, nearly all of which came through the slide.
"I feel like our blocking on the left side just needs to develop more," middle blocker Nana Meriwether said. "We have a lot of trouble defending that."
From the outside, Lumsden led all players with 19 kills on the night. Pepperdine rode the wave of its two power hitters in Lumsden and Milo, keeping the momentum in its favor throughout the second and third games.
But UCLA, unwilling to let this nonconference match slip away, rallied together to tame the Waves. Unlike in the previous two sets, the Bruins made sure to not let Pepperdine come from behind and steal the game.
"It was (an uphill battle in the fourth and fifth games), but we all came together during halftime and on the sideline," said Meriwether, who added 18 kills and 11 blocks on the night. "We just woke each other up and worked together."
In the fourth game, the Bruins amassed 6.5 blocks to Pepperdine's two, and hit for a more efficient .282 as a team.
"We were put in a situation where it was all mental," said outside hitter Katie Carter, who added 15 kills and six blocks. "We had to be confident in ourselves; we had to not even think that they could win."
"That's what we're going to run into the tournament coming up. So this is really good practice for us to have that feeling and get ourselves out of it."
Though this win did not have any Pac-10 Conference implications, UCLA will gladly take this win all the same.
"It's a great momentum starter," Meriwether said. "We have a big weekend senior weekend and then the next weekend we have NCAAs. So any win is a good win; it's positive for our team."
JESSICA LUM/daily bruin senior staff
Nana Meriwether helped the No. 4 Bruins defeat No. 24 Pepperdine last night with strong performances both defensively and on offense.
By Allison Ho
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
aho@media.ucla.edu
The match may not have counted toward the Bruins' run for the Pac-10 title, but they sure did put up quite a fight against Pepperdine on Monday night.
The No. 4 Bruins were pushed to the limit by the No. 24 Waves in a five-game melee, eventually holding Pepperdine out 30-25, 26-30, 26-30, 30-24, 15-5 in front of a crowd of 677.
Though the Bruins won the first set, it was apparent that their passing had waned near the end of the first game. And by the second, their serve receive had noticeably begun to affect their ability to run their offense effectively. In the second and third sets, the Bruins hit for a meager .119 and .108 respectively, compared to their better first-game outing of .357.
"They served extremely well tonight," coach Andy Banachowski said. "We got a little rattled by their serving and it took us out of our offense."
Pepperdine, meanwhile, rode the arms of its West Coast Conference Player of the Week Sophia Milo and Rachel Lumsden. In the middle, Milo was virtually unstoppable with her step-out maneuver, as the Bruin blockers were unable to get up in time. She added 16 kills, nearly all of which came through the slide.
"I feel like our blocking on the left side just needs to develop more," middle blocker Nana Meriwether said. "We have a lot of trouble defending that."
From the outside, Lumsden led all players with 19 kills on the night. Pepperdine rode the wave of its two power hitters in Lumsden and Milo, keeping the momentum in its favor throughout the second and third games.
But UCLA, unwilling to let this nonconference match slip away, rallied together to tame the Waves. Unlike in the previous two sets, the Bruins made sure to not let Pepperdine come from behind and steal the game.
"It was (an uphill battle in the fourth and fifth games), but we all came together during halftime and on the sideline," said Meriwether, who added 18 kills and 11 blocks on the night. "We just woke each other up and worked together."
In the fourth game, the Bruins amassed 6.5 blocks to Pepperdine's two, and hit for a more efficient .282 as a team.
"We were put in a situation where it was all mental," said outside hitter Katie Carter, who added 15 kills and six blocks. "We had to be confident in ourselves; we had to not even think that they could win."
"That's what we're going to run into the tournament coming up. So this is really good practice for us to have that feeling and get ourselves out of it."
Though this win did not have any Pac-10 Conference implications, UCLA will gladly take this win all the same.
"It's a great momentum starter," Meriwether said. "We have a big weekend senior weekend and then the next weekend we have NCAAs. So any win is a good win; it's positive for our team."
