McCall Leads Late Charge in Five-Set Victory over Cougars

PULLMAN, Wash. – Iman Ndiaye recorded a team-high 17 kills and three blocks to help the UCLA women's volleyball team to a 3-2 victory over No. 25 Washington State at Bohler Gym on Tuesday night.
 
The Bruins (16-12, 10-9 Pac-12) handed the Cougars (21-9, 13-6 Pac-12) just their second loss at home this season.
 
Set scores were 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 13-25, 15-11.
 
élan McCall tallied a season-high 21 digs in addition to nine kills while Anna Dodson led UCLA with five blocks to go along with her 13 kills. Sophomore outside hitter Charitie Luper notched her fourth consecutive double-double and ninth on the season with 15 kills and 13 digs tonight.
 
Washington State's Pia Timmer led the match in scoring with 23 kills.
 
The Bruins bounced from a rough fourth set, hitting .050 in the frame, to even the fifth at 11-all. McCall scored UCLA's 11th point to tie it and then went to the service line to deal her third ace of the match to put the Bruins ahead, 12-11. With her team-high three aces tonight, McCall now leads UCLA with 32 on the season.
 
McCall also recorded five total blocks (2 BS, 3 BA) in the match for her most since the Bruins' 2022 season-opener at Utah State where she recorded six. Her two solo blocks tied a career high. One of those solo blocks scored a crucial point in the fifth set to tie the set, 9-9.
 
Ndiaye went off the block of Weronika Wojdyla on the next play to give UCLA a three-point buffer. The Bruins went on to close the match on a 5-0 run to win their first contest over a ranked opponent this season.
 
UCLA came out of the gates firing on 7-for-7 on kills to begin the first set. The Bruins finished with an elite 19 total kills in set one at a .486 hitting percentage. Dodson and Ndiaye contributed seven and five, respectively, in the set.
 
Next Up: UCLA closes its regular season at USC on Friday, Nov. 25 at 8 p.m. (PT) in the Galen Center. The contest will be aired by the Pac-12 Network.
 
The Bruins hope to add another late-season marquee win to buff up its resume for an at-large selection to the NCAA Tournament.