Sports, Women's Sports, Women's Volleyball

Bruins claw 49ers

The Beach came into the second round of the NCAA on Saturday with a plan, a 17-match and 22-set win streak and a sweep the night before – but it fell in just three sets to UCLA.

“I haven’t seen that before,” head coach Brian Gimmillaro said. “We’ve played poorly before in big NCAA games, but it’s not just that. UCLA, I thought, played the games of their lives.”

UCLA (22-11) swept the Long Beach State women’s volleyball team (27-5), taking a critical 27-25 first set, then dominating the last two 25-15 and 25-14.

“After watching them play [Friday night], they do a lot of things offensively that I knew were going to be a challenge for us,” UCLA head coach Michael Sealy. “I was glad when the match started, we served well enough to keep them out of system a little bit.”

During the first round the night before, LBSU swept San Diego 25-23, 25-23 and 25-22. Mackie led the charge with 14 kills and Reid added 13.

LBSU broke out an early 4-2 lead and came out with a fast offense and strong front-line blocking. But the Bruins’ Karsta Lowe prevented the 49ers from gaining another lead in the set.

“We couldn’t stay in system to play defense against her or block her,” Gimmillaro said. “We don’t know why we were doing what we were doing.”

Lowe finished with a match-high 24 kills, nine of them coming in the first set, and hit .352 in the match.

After a 3-2 run for the 49ers who were down 14-17, Gimmillaro took a timeout after another Lowe kill.

The Beach came out with two straight points, but UCLA answered right back with two of their own, which forced another quick timeout from The Beach.

The 49ers went on a 6-3 run ignited by Reid’s kill and ace to tie the set at 22, forcing UCLA’s last timeout.

LBSU transfer Sophie Bukovec subbed in for Murray and teamed with Reid to get the block assist that tied the match at 25, but Lowe got the kill to lead the set. UCLA Claire Felix gave her team the win with a kill on a bad pass from the 49ers.

“I thought, near the end of the first game, we had them in a position where they didn’t have their strength,” Gimmillaro said. “You’ve got to be able to take advantage of situations, and normal situations that we’re usually successful with; we just kept falling all over ourselves.”

The second set started off tight, with the score tied at six, but the 49ers couldn’t make good passes off UCLA’s much bigger front line of Lowe and Felix. LBSU finished with three team blocks in the match compared to the Bruin’s nine.

“I think we just did a really good job of playing on our side and doing what we do,” UCLA setter Julie Consani said. “Just relaxing into our system. We knew it was going to work, we did it and we had fun.”

But whenever the Bruins went on a run and the 49ers offense wasn’t working, setter Jenelle Hudson would dump for kills. Hudson finished nearing a triple-double with 25 assists, 10 digs and seven kills.

Lowe took a step back in the third to give way for Felix, who made six blocks in the set. After a 1-1 tie, Felix had four straight blocks – three block assists and a solo block to force a Beach timeout.

Gimmillaro said he tried to regain the focus of his players in all six of his timeouts, but to no success.

“Nothing before mattered, this play matters,” Gimmillaro told his players. “But it didn’t work, and it’s a pretty mature team, but we couldn’t get our maturity. We couldn’t get our focus. Frustration was so high and when you want to do so well, nothing sees to go right.”

The Bruins continued to run away with the set, making seven team blocks and finished with a 9-to-3 advantage.

Okpala led the 49ers with nine kills, Reid followed with eight and Mackie added five. Reid and senior co-captains Tyler Jackson and Chelsea Cabrajac finished with eight digs each.

“You never know as a coach how much of it was that they played well and how much is it that we just played poorly,” Gimmillaro said. “How much did they make us play poorly, [and] how much did we make them play well? All I know is that’s the worst match we’ve played all year.”

The 49ers’ success in the season was one thing not to be lost. As only the fifth undefeated Big West Conference champions in program history, the Beach ended the season with a 27-5 overall record.

“Obviously tonight wasn’t enough,” Mackie said. “We wanted to go as far as we possibly could. I don’t feel satisfied, but I’m happy that we’re together. I think we’re still really hungry for a lot, and I hope that stays in the program.”

UCLA will continue to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament against defending NCAA champions Penn State on Friday at 7 p.m. in Louisville, Kentucky.

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