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Bruins Drop Heartbreaker in Five to Arizona State

Nov 22, 2013

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2013 UCLA Women's Volleyball Media Guide

LOS ANGELES - Senior Kelly Reeves had 18 kills and 21 digs, junior Karsta Lowe added 20 kills and sophomore Karly Drolson posted 22 digs, but the Bruins dropped a five-set decision to Arizona State on Friday at the John Wooden Center. Set scores were 19-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-16, 13-15.

Junior Megan Moenoa had 51 assists, five kills and six blocks, setting the Bruins (14-13, 5-12 Pac-12) to a .200 hitting percentage. Sophomore Maddy Klineman added nine kills and six digs, senior Mariana Aquino had seven kills, four digs and four blocks and junior Zoë Nightingale tallied four blocks and three kills. Sophomore Rachel Inouye had nine digs, freshman Claire Felix recorded five kills and senior Madie Smith added seven digs.

The Bruins held the lead throughout most of the opening set until the Sun Devils (18-11, 7-10 Pac-12) made a late run to steal the first. Equal at two, the Bruins scored four straight on back-to-back kills by Lowe, an Arizona State attack error and a Reeves kill to go up 6-2. UCLA led by as many as five at 8-3 and 9-4 before Arizona State made its first run, going on 5-1 stretch to cut its deficit to one at 10-9.

From that point, the Bruins’ lead never rose above three for the rest of the set. At 18-15 UCLA, the Sun Devils closed the set on a 10-1 run to win it 25-19. Lowe led the Bruins with five kills in the first, while Reeves added three. Drolson had six digs, as the Bruins were out-hit .350 to .171.

In a second set that featured 14 ties and nine lead changes, UCLA’s biggest lead was three, while Arizona State’s largest advantage was two. Trailing 5-3, the Bruins went on a 6-1 run to take a set-best lead of three at 9-6. Aquino and Klineman had kills during the run, Moenoa added an ace and teamed up with Aquino on a block and the Sun Devils committed two errors. With UCLA up 13-12, Arizona State scored three straight to take its set-best lead of two at 15-13. UCLA got the next three on a Moenoa kill, a Klineman/Nightingale combo block and an ASU attack error to go up 16-15.

With the Bruins still ahead by two at 21-19, the Sun Devils netted the next three to go up 22-21. Three straight kills by Reeves made it 24-22 to give the Bruins two set points, but the Sun Devils saved them both. Another Reeves kill gave UCLA a third set point and Klineman finished things off with her third kill of the set to give the home squad a 26-24 win. Reeves had five kills and five digs and Lowe added four kills. Drolson tallied six digs, while Moenoa and Nightingale had three blocks apiece, as the Bruins won the hitting battle .128 to .081.

UCLA had small leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the third, but Arizona State took its first advantage at 3-2 and maintained the lead for the rest of the set, despite ties at 3, 4 and 5-all. The Sun Devils’ largest lead of the set was six at 22-16 and 23-17, as the visitors won the third 25-21. Reeves was 6-for-16 in kill attempts in the third with no errors, while Lowe added three kills. Inouye posted five digs, as the Bruins were out-hit .314 to .220.

The Bruins would come back to lead the fourth wire-to-wire to force a fifth set. Up 7-6, the Bruins scored five in a row on a kill and ace by Reeves, kills from Klineman and Lowe and an ASU attack error to make it 12-6. The Sun Devils closed to 13-9, but another four spot on Klineman and Reeves kills and two ASU errors put the Bruins up 17-9.

The teams traded 12 straight sideouts to bring the score to 23-15. A Moenoa kill gave the Bruins their first set point, and on attempt number two, an ASU service error wrapped up a 25-16 victory. Lowe had six kills in the fourth, Klineman added three and Reeves posted three kills and six digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Sun Devils .406 to .235.

UCLA had leads of 5-0 and 11-7 in the fifth, but could not hold on. The first five points of the deciding set came on a Reeves ace, two Lowe kills, a Klineman solo block and a combo roof from Aquino and Lowe. The Sun Devils came right back with the next five, but the Bruins went on a 6-2 run to go up 11-7. Lowe, Reeves and Felix had kills during the run, Moenoa and Felix teamed up for a block and ASU made two errors.

Arizona State responded again with the next four to tie it at 11. A Felix kill made it 12-11, but the Sun Devils got the next two to take their first lead of the fifth. An Aquino kill evened things at 13, but ASU netted back-to-back points to win the fifth 15-13. Lowe had three kills in the fifth, while Reeves added five digs. The Bruins were out-hit .130 to .083.

UCLA hosts Arizona on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the John Wooden Center. Live video and stats will be available at UCLABruins.com. All fans with a mustache, real or fake, will receive free admission to the match.