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UCLA Women’s Volleyball Will Face a Tough Utah Team Tonight

The Utes are ranked 18th in the nation and the Bruins will play them in the elevation of Salt Lake City. That will make tonight’s match doubly tough.

Mac May led the Bruins with 29 kills against the Huskies.
Ross Turteltaub/uclabruins.com

After falling to the Washington Huskies at home on Sunday, the UCLA women’s volleyball hits the road for a pair of games this weekend in the mountain states. First up is a match against the #18 Utah Utes tonight at 6 pm PT. The winner of this game will remain in first place in the Pac-12 standings.

Last Time Out

On Sunday, the Bruins lost to the Huskies, 3-1. It was the first time UCLA has lost this season and not been swept. The first set was a back-and-forth battle which saw UCLA take an early 3-1 lead. With the Bruins up 6-4, the Huskies went on a 9-3 run to take a 13-9 lead. Down 19-15, UCLA went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead, but Washington countered with a 5-0 run of their own to force a set point. UCLA fought it off once, but couldn’t come back and the Bruins lost the set, 25-21.

UCLA fell behind early in the second set and, while they tied the set up five times, they never had the lead and ultimately lost the set, 25-23.

After the break, Washington took the early lead, but the Bruins tied it up at 6-6 as the teams battled it out until 10-10. That’s when UCLA went on a 5-1 run to take a 15-11 lead. Washington closed it to within one five times but, with the score 19-18, UCLA went on a decisive 6-2 run to close out the set and stave off elimination.

Unfortunately, UCLA couldn’t do the same again in the fourth set. The Bruins were ahead 19-15 when the Huskies went on an 8-2 run to take a 23-21 lead. UCLA closed the gap to one twice, but couldn’t tie it up and Washington won the fourth set, 25-23, to win the match.

Utah Utes

Now, the Bruins hit the road to face the Utes tonight. This will be a tough match because it’s on the road at altitude. Utah’s only conference loss so far has come on the road and their only home loss came against #12 BYU.

I’m not saying a Bruin win tonight is out of the realm of possibility, but I’d be really happy if they just avoid a sweep.


Go Bruins!!!