2017 NCAA Tournament – UCLA POD
- December 1st – 2nd
- Round 1
- Pauley Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
- Bracket
- Tournament Central
UCLA DEF AUSTIN PEAY 3:0 (25-10, 25-13, 25-15)
- UCLA improves to 20-10; Austin Peay drops to 30-6
- Attendance: 1057
- Box Score
The #15 seed UCLA Bruins rolled to a straight set win over the visiting Austin Peay Governors in Los Angeles, setting up a second round match with the Cal Poly Mustangs and former teammate Torrey Van Winden. Set scores were 25-10, 25-13 and 25-15. Senior Reily Buechler led the way with 13 kills, 10 digs, and seven aces while Zana Muno collected 12 digs. Senior setter Sarah Sponcil led a balanced offense to a .324 hitting efficiency, while handing out 28 assists to go along with 18 digs.
“We were super fired up coming into the game,” Buechler said. “Like [Coach] Sealy said, ‘let’s get after and play super competitively’.”
The Bruins dominated the stat sheet, leading the match in hitting efficiency .324 to .051, kills 44-20, aces 9-1, assists 41-20, and digs 55-43. Austin Peay led the match in blocks 5-3.
This was the second NCAA Tournament appearance for Austin Peay after collecting a program-record 30 wins. Jenna Panning and Brooke Moore led the way with five kills apiece Kristen Stucker collected 19 assists. Allie O’reilly led the defense with 15 digs. The Governors finish the season at 30-6.
The second round match between the Mustangs and the Bruins is sure to be a battle as both teams displayed strong, balanced offenses to go along with tough serving. Former Bruin Van Winden and her Mustang teammates will pose a big test for the Bruins, but coach Michael Sealy feels that his team is prepared. “We are used to teams [in the PAC-12] being balanced,” Sealy continued. “We are used to stopping many people in multiple positions.”
First serve is set for 7 pm local time in Los Angeles on Saturday.
CAL POLY DEF DENVER 3:0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-18)
- Cal Poly improves to 27-2; Denver drops to 23-6
- Attendance: 356
- Box Score:
Torrey Van Winden made a triumphant return to Los Angeles, posting 20 kills (.500) to lead the Cal Poly Mustangs to a straight set win over the Denver Pioneers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Set scores were 25-20, 25-18 and 25-18. Van Winden, a sophomore opposite who played her freshman year at UCLA, transferred to Cal Poly to team up with her sister Adlee Van Winden (12 digs) and has lead the Mustangs to 27 wins and a possible second round matchup with her former team.
“I’m trying to look at it as another game, another gym,” Torrey Van Winden said. “We try to focus as much as we can on the next match ahead of us.”
Taylor Nelson led the Mustangs offense to a .406 hitting efficiency by dishing out 41 assists to go along with nine digs. Katherine Brouker chipped in 12 digs and Reanne Greisen fired 10 kills (.643).
Cal Poly lead the match in hitting percentage .406 to .284, kills 50-37, and digs 40-33 while holding an astounding 8-0 edge in aces. The Pioneers led the match in blocks 6-4.
“Overall, I thought it was a well executed match by us,” Mustangs’ coach Sam Crosson said. “Ultimately I thought we served the ball (well) and moved it around. We tried to force their setters to run around as much as possible.”
Denver was led by Cassie Baird’s 11 kills while Becca Latham and Emma Willis each tallied six. The Pioneers finish the year at 23-6.
“Winning the first match was kind of surreal,” Van Winden said. “I had a lot of success here (Pauley Pavilion) and I’m so thankful for my time here, but I am really looking forward to our match tomorrow night.”
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