MATCH STATS
- #22 UCLA def. #17 Colorado, 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-20)
- UCLA moves to 18-6, 9-6 Pac 12; Colorado drops to 19-7, 9-6 Pac 12
- Los Angeles, California
- Attendance: 803
- Box score
LOS ANGELES – #22 UCLA (RPI: 26) got a huge RPI boost Thursday evening by defeating #17 Colorado (RPI: 11) in straight sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-20). The win now secures a season sweep of the Buffs. Another RPI boost is available Friday night—UCLA hosts #16 Utah (RPI: 16) after Utah dropped a four set match at #12 USC Thursday night (RPI: 18).
The Bruins were led offensively by freshman outside hitter and Minnesota native Jenny Mosser with 14 kills, while adding 9 digs and 2 blocks to the defense. Senior setter Sarah Sponcil produced UCLA’s only double-double, distributing 35 assists to go along with 16 digs on the night. Sophomore middle blocker Madeline Gates added 10 kills with just one hitting error, hitting .529 Thursday night. Gates also blocked a match-high 7 balls, 3 of which were solo blocks. Libero Zana Muno dug a match-high 18 balls to pace the Pac 12-leading defensive team.
Colorado gave all it could in set one, having a lead at 22-19 before UCLA went on a 6-1 run to win the opener. Junior outside hitter and Oregon transfer Frankie Shebby pounded a team-high 13 kills and added 5 digs and 4 blocks for the Buffs. Junior outside hitter and Purdue transfer Alexa Smith was mostly nullified offensively, putting away 8 balls on the night with 8 hitting errors (4 of which were blocked by UCLA). Smith added 11 digs to the Colorado floor defense. Junior libero Gabby Carta-Samuels led Colorado with 12 digs on the night. Freshman setter Brynna DeLuzio paced the Buffs offense with 26 assists and 7 digs.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of UCLA Athletics
LOS ANGELES – Senior Sarah Sponcil added to her team-best double-double total with 35 assists and 16 digs and freshman Jenny Mosser recorded 14 kills and nine digs, as the 18th-ranked Bruins won their third match in a row with a sweep of #25 Colorado on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. Set scores were 25-23, 25-18, 25-20.
Sophomore Madeleine Gates notched 10 kills and just one error in 17 attempts for a .529 hitting percentage to go with seven blocks, including three solo stuffs. Senior Reily Buechler added eight kills and 13 digs, junior Zana Muno had 18 digs, freshman Mac May posted eight kills and sophomore Savvy Simo had five digs.
Colorado (19-7, 9-6 Pac-12) led for most of the opening set until UCLA (16-8, 9-6 Pac-12) came back late to steal the opener. The Buffaloes held set-best advantages of four at 6-2 and 7-3 before the Bruins came back with a 6-2 run to even the score at nine. Gates, Mosser, Buechler and junior Kyra Rogers had kills, Rogers teamed up with Mosser on a block and Colorado committed an error. The Buffs still led by three as late as 22-19 when two Mosser kills and a Muno ace evened the score at 22. After a CU sideout, back-to-back Mosser kills gave the Bruins a set point and a Mosser/Rogers block finished off a 25-23 win. Mosser was error-free with seven kills in 16 swings, adding five digs in the first set. Buechler had three kills and six digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Buffaloes .209 to .146.
After ending the first set on a 6-1 run, UCLA started set two on a 9-1 run thanks to three Buechler kills, two May kills, a Gates solo block and combo with May and two Colorado attack errors. Eight would be the Bruins’ largest lead of the second on several occasions. The Buffaloes closed to within three at 20-17, but the Bruins netted five of the last six on two Mosser kills, a Sponcil ace, a May kill and a Buechler solo block on set point to win it 25-18. Gates was 4-for-6 and error-free in the second, while Buechler and May added four kills each. Muno and Sponcil notched seven digs apiece, as the Bruins out-hit the Buffaloes .263 to .103.
Colorado’s only leads of set three were 1-0 and 2-1. Equal at five, a Mosser kill, a Rogers solo and two CU errors gave the Bruins the lead for good. UCLA’s largest advantage of the third was six at 16-10. At 21-18, the Bruins scored four of the last six of the set to claim it 25-20, as Gates had a solo block and two kills, including the match winner, during the final run. Mosser had a set-best five kills for UCLA, while Gates was 4-for-6 with no miscues. Muno added seven digs and Sponcil had six. The Bruins out-hit the Buffaloes .200 to .136.
Courtesy of Colorado Athletics
LOS ANGELES – Colorado’s win streak came to an end at four after falling 25-23, 25-18, 25-20 on Thursday night to No. 18 UCLA at Pauley Pavilion.
The No. 25 Buffs are now 19-7 overall, 9-6 in Pac-12 play, while UCLA improved to 16-8 (9-6 Pac-12).
WHAT HAPPENED: Junior Frankie Shebbyrecorded 13 kills in the Buffs effort and also hit .275. She added five digs and posted four blocks. Alexa Smith was second on the team with eight kills and picked up 11 digs, while Joslyn Hayes recorded six kills, three digs and two blocks.
Naghede Abu was steady for CU, posting a team-best five blocks, in addition to five kills. Gabby Carta-Samuels led the Buffs with a 12 digs.
UCLA was led by Jenny Mosser‘s 14 kills, while Madeleine Gates added another 10 kills in addition to posting seven blocks, three solo and four assists.
SET 1: The Buffs had a great start to the match, going up 7-3, but the Bruins didn’t let CU get too far away, closing the gap to one after three straight points (7-6). CU pulled back ahead and would have a three-point lead at 22-19 when UCLA recorded another three-point run to even the set at 22-22. After a timeout by the Buffs, Abu and Shebby combined for the block, but the Bruins responded with two straight points to take their first lead of the set, causing the Buffs to take their second timeout of the match. CU could not respond and dropped the set on the following point (25-23).
SET 2: UCLA took a 6-1 lead in the second frame before the Buffs needed to take a timeout. The Bruins took three more points before CU was able to sideout. The Buffs did not get down and were able to close gap to five (15-10) before UCLA went back up by eight (19-11). Again CU fought, this time putting together a 6-1 run to bring the score to 20-17, forcing UCLA to take a timeout. Out of the break, the Bruins record a 3-0 run (23-17) and closed out the set 25-18.
SET 3: The third set was tied 5-5 when UCLA took four straight points for a 9-5 lead. The Bruins increased the lead to 12-7, and at that time the Buffs needed to take a timeout. A short time later, CU had cut the lead to three (16-13), but the Bruins again pulled ahead with two consecutive points (18-13). The Buffs took their final timeout after UCLA took a 20-16 advantage late in the match. The Buffs put up a great effort, but were unable to get the set win, falling 25-20.
NOTES: CU is 5-6 against ranked teams this year…CU has won seven of its last nine; the only two losses in that stretch have been against UCLA…CU is 7-4 on the road.
TEAM STATISTICS: UCLA hit .224 with 43 kills and 17 errors on 116 attacks, while the Buffs were held to a .129 hitting percentage with 34 kills and 18 errors on 124 swings. UCLA served up four aces and led in digs (65-51) and blocks (11.0-9.0).
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