The journey was a memorable one for the five seniors on the UCLA
women’s volleyball team, but the end result was the same as
before.
Having advanced to the NCAA Regional Finals for the fifth time
in six seasons, the Bruins, once again, could not get over the
hump. This time it was seventh-seeded Washington who ended
UCLA’s season, rallying from a two-point deficit midway
through the fifth game to defeat the Bruins 27-30, 30-19, 30-28,
24-30, 15-9 in front of their hometown crowd of 4,532 fans in
Seattle.
That means UCLA’s seniors ““ Krystal McFarland,
Chrissie Zartman, Brynn Murphy, Brittany Ringel and Heather Cullen
““ have accomplished almost everything in their Bruin careers
except play in the Final Four.
“I told our seniors I’m very proud of the postseason
run we made,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said.
“Nobody expected us to be here, especially as the No. 15
seed, but our girls didn’t seem to care.”
Of all UCLA’s postseason losses, this one may have been
the toughest to swallow.
One night earlier, the 15th-seeded Bruins had recorded the
tournament’s biggest upset, defeating No. 2 Penn State in
four games 30-24, 22-30, 30-25, 30-28. They looked to be on their
way to a Cinderella story the next night against the Huskies,
taking an 8-6 lead in the fifth game in a raucous road
atmosphere.
But it all came crashing down.
Washington’s Brie Hagerty recorded four of her 23 kills as
the Huskies reeled off six consecutive points to seize control of
the match for good.
“We just hit a block,” Banachowski said. “We
got stuck in their serve and couldn’t come out.”
By splitting the first four games 27-30, 30-19, 30-28, 24-30,
UCLA forced the Huskies to a fifth game, something it had failed to
do in two previous meetings.
Even that looked like it might not happen at the start of game
four.
On the brink of elimination after falling behind 12-3 in the
fourth game, the Bruins staged a remarkable comeback to take the
lead at 23-18 and eventually won the game 30-24.
“No one does what we did in that fourth game,”
Banachowski said. “We gave Washington an amazing
run.”
“It was an uphill challenge,” middle blocker Nana
Meriwether said. “But our seniors brought us back.”
Yet after tying the match at two games apiece, the Bruins simply
ran out of energy in the fifth game and couldn’t sustain the
same block that had led them through their great comeback.
Meriwether, who had 10 blocks through the first four games, only
had one in the fifth game.
“Everyone was just so emotionally and physically
drained,” Banachowski said. “We just had nothing
left.”
Ringel and Zartman played exceptional matches, recording 17
kills and 34 digs, respectively.
Zartman and Meriwether were named to the All-Tournament team,
but neither could stop the onslaught of the Huskies on
Saturday.
“We just couldn’t execute when we needed to,”
Meriwether said. “It came down to who wanted it
most.”
Senior Sanja Tomasevic led the way for the Huskies, finishing
with 24 kills. Only two Bruins finished in double figures in kills
““ Ringel and sophomore Becky Green, who finished with 14.
Though the loss was disappointing, Banachowski preferred to
focus on the efforts of his senior class.
After an injury-plagued season in which the Bruins finished in
the middle of the Pac-10 standings despite being touted as a
national-title contender in the preseason, Banachowski was pleased
that the team found a spark in the postseason.
“I just told the seniors how proud of them I was,”
Banachowski said. “They have represented UCLA with the
highest class the last four years, and I couldn’t have asked
for anything more.”