Match Stats
- #12 UCLA defeats #21 Utah 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 29-27)
- UCLA improves to 18-4
- Utah drops to 16-7
Taylor Formico and Torrey Van Winden each had double doubles as the red-hot UCLA Bruins dropped Utah 3-0.
The senior Formico had 20 digs and 11 assists, while the freshman van Winden notched 17 kills and 11 digs for UCLA, extending the Bruin win streak to 6 matches. Van Winden also hit an outstanding .471 on the day.
It was a back-and-forth first set and a marathon third set in a conference match that hinged on a few key points early and late. Utah’s Adora Anae had 20 kills and hit .415 in the loss.
Press Releases
UCLA:
LOS ANGELES – Senior Taylor Formico notched the second double-double of her Bruin career with 20 digs and a career-high 11 assists, while freshman Torrey Van Winden also had a double-double with 17 kills and 11 digs, as the 12th-ranked Bruins made it six wins in a row with a sweep of #21 Utah on Saturday at Pauley Pavilion. Set scores were 25-23, 25-17, 29-27.
Van Winden hit .471 for the match with just one error in 34 attempts. Junior Reily Buechler also had 17 kills with a .395 hitting percentage, while senior Jordan Anderson was also in double figures with 13. The Bruins (18-4, 9-3 Pac-12) hit .299 for the match behind the setting of freshman Kylie Miller (25 assists, nine digs) and junior Ryann Chandler (19 assists, nine digs). Sophomore Zana Muno added 11 digs, while senior Jennie Frager recorded five kills and four blocks.
The first set featured 12 ties and three lead changes. The teams were even at 11 when the Bruins scored four in a row on kills by Muno and Anderson and two Utah attack errors. The Utes (16-7, 7-5 Pac-12) closed to within one at 17-16, but the Bruins again got their lead to four on a Buechler kill, a Muno/Frager block and a Utah attack error. UCLA’s largest lead would be four as late as 22-18, but Utah evened things at 23. However, back-to-back kills by Van Winden wrapped up the 25-23 win in the opener. Buechler was error-free and 5-for-9 in kill attempts, while Van Winden was also spotless with five kills in 11 swings. Anderson added four kills, Formico posted seven digs and Chandler had four digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Utes .293 to .191.
After falling behind 4-2 in set two, the Bruins went on a 9-3 run to go up 11-7 and never looked back. Anderson had three kills during the run, Van Winden added two and a block with Frager, who also had a kill. The Bruins got the lead to five at 14-9, but Utah went on a 7-2 run to even things at 16. But the Utes were unable to grab the lead back. Following the tie, the Bruins scored nine of the last 10 of the set. The first seven points came on two kills by Buechler and five Utah errors. After a sideout, back-to-back Buechler kills finished up a 25-17 win. Buechler recorded seven of the Bruins’ 14 kills, while Anderson added three. Formico had six digs and Miller and Van Winden both had four. The Bruins out-hit the Utes .209 to .071.
Set three had nine ties and seven lead changes. The Bruins jumped out to an early 6-2 lead thanks to two Buechler kills, one each by Frager and Van Winden, an Anderson/Frager block and a Utah error. After Utah reclaimed the lead at 10-9, the Bruins scored five of six on three Van Winden kills and one apiece by Formico and Buechler to go up 14-11. UCLA’s largest lead of the set was four on a few occasions and as late as 22-18. A Buechler kill put the home team up 24-21, but Utah not only saved all three match points, but scored another to earn a set point of its own. Utah had a second set point at 26-25 only to see UCLA score the next two on Anderson kills to pick up a fourth match point. That attempt was saved, but a kill by Van Winden gave UCLA a fifth match point and it was the charm, as a Buechler kill closed out the 29-27 win. Van Winden was error-free in the third with 10 kills in 16 swings to go with four digs. Anderson added six kills, Buechler posted five and Frager had three. Formico posted seven digs, Muno had six and Miller added four. The Bruins out-hit the Utes .367 to .327.
Utah:
LOS ANGELES – The No. 21-ranked Utah volleyball team dropped a Pac-12 Conference match in straight sets (23-25, 17-25, 29-27) to the No. 12-ranked UCLA Bruins Saturday night at Pauley Pavilion. The Utes fall to 16-7 overall and 7-5 in league play with the loss, while UCLA pushes its record to 18-4 on the year and 9-3 in conference play.
Junior Adora Anae paced Utah with 20 kills and a .415 hitting percentage, while also registering the 40th double-double of her career with a 17-dig effort on Saturday. Junior Carly Trueman added 10 kills and junior Eliza Katoaregistered seven kills on the evening.
Sophomore Jessie Openshaw and freshman Bailey Choyhelped run the Utah offense, recording 20 assists each on the night. Freshman Brianna Doehrmann added 14 kills for the Utes, while sophomore Berkeley Oblad led the Utes at the net with four total blocks.
Utah opened the first set netting five kills from five different players until junior Tawnee Luafalemana registered the first back-to-back points, which gave the Utes a 6-5 lead. UCLA used a 4-0 run to go up 15-11 and later registered a 5-2 run to push its lead to 22-18, forcing Utah to call timeout. The Utes rallied with five of the next six points, but UCLA’s timeout with the set tied 23-23 proved to be exactly what the home team needed as the Bruins won the next two points to take the frame 25-23.
Anae registered six kills in the second set, but it wasn’t enough as UCLA took the frame 25-17. Katoa opened the set with a piar of kills and Anae followed with three kills, but UCLA went on a 10-4 scoring run to go up 14-9. A kill from Anae would lead to a 7-1 run, tying things at 16-16, but the Bruins called timeout and then closed out the set with a 9-1 run.
Utah trailed 6-2 early in the third set before coming back with a 6-1 run and going up 8-7 with a kill from Trueman. Kills from sophomore Emma Kirst and Katoa pushed Utah’s lead to 10-9, but UCLA countered with runs of 5-1 and 5-2 to go up 21-17 and force Utah to call a timeout. UCLA would late go up match point (24-21), but the Utes rallied with a 5-0 run to go up 25-24. The teams would trade points, but UCLA came away with the win after netting the final two points for a 29-27 victory.
Utah, who earned a split in Los Angeles over the weekend, return to action next weekend hosting California (Friday, Nov. 4) and Stanford (Saturday, Nov. 5) at the Huntsman Center.
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