No. 18 Bruins Bounce Back to Split With No. 24 Washington State

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PULLMAN, Wash. - Senior Mac May recorded a double-double with 21 kills and 10 digs, freshman Iman Ndiaye added 10 kills and junior élan McCall was just shy of her own double-double with 12 digs and nine kills, as the 18th-ranked Bruins defeated No. 24 Washington State in four sets on Saturday at Bohler Gym. Set scores were 25-20, 13-25, 25-15, 25-21.

With the result, both teams sit at 4-2 after three weekends of play.

Junior Devon Chang had 35 assists and six digs, junior Zoe Fleck and freshman Allison Jacobs both tallied 10 digs and redshirt junior Emily Ryan added five kills and four blocks. The Bruins hit .198 as a team.

Set one featured 11 ties and seven lead changes. The Bruins trailed 7-5 early on when a McCall kill, a block from Chang and redshirt freshman Anna Dodson, a May kill and a Dodson solo stuff put the visitors up by a couple. Down 14-13, a May kill, a Ryan solo block and a McCall kill gave the Bruins the lead back, and UCLA would not trail for the rest of the set. Leading 20-19, UCLA got five of the next six points to win the opener by a score of 25-20. May had three kills during the final sprint, including the set-clincher, recording eight kills in the opening set.

Washington State led from start to finish in set two, winning it 25-13.

The tables turned in set three, as the Bruins raced out to a 9-1 lead to go wire-to-wire. McCall posted two blocks in the first two points, teaming up with senior Sabrina Smith and Ryan on roofs. After a Cougar sideout, kills from McCall and May, a Jacobs ace, a Chang/Ryan block and three WSU errors put the Bruins up by eight. Despite some mini-runs, Washington State could get no closer than four the rest of the way. At 17-13, five in a row on kills by Ryan and May, two Cougar errors and another from May made it 22-13. A setter dump by Chang finished off a 25-15 win. 

UCLA jumped out to a 7-2 lead in set four, scoring the first four on a Smith/Ndiaye block, back-to-back aces from May and a WSU attack error. McCall and Ryan added kills during the 7-2 run. The Cougars responded and eventually took the lead at 16-15. But UCLA had a comeback in them, as back-to-back kills from May, a WSU attack error, a Ryan kill and another from May put the Bruins up 20-16. Ndiaye would take the honors of the match-clinching kill, as UCLA won 25-21.

The Bruins are home next weekend, entertaining No. 11 Washington at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom. Match one is Friday, Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. and will be live streamed on UCLABruins.com. The second contest will be played on Sunday, Feb. 14 at 3 p.m. and will air on Pac-12 Network National, Los Angeles and Washington.