MATCH STATS
- UCLA def. Cal Poly 3-1, (26-28, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18)
- UCLA moves to 21-10; Cal Poly ends season at 27-3
- Los Angeles, California
- Attendance: 1103
- Box Score
LOS ANGELES, Calif.– UCLA defeated Cal Poly on Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Pauley Pavilion at UCLA. The UCLA Bruins snapped a 22 match winning streak for the Mustangs. USC will travel to Gainesville, Florida for the regional semifinals of the tournament next weekend where they will face the Florida Gators.
UCLA setter, Sarah Sponcil, ran the offense for the Bruins with 49 assists and 24 digs for a double-double on the match. Reily Buechler led the team in kills, putting away 26 balls on a .436 clip matching a career high. She added 11 kills for a double-double as well. Savvy Simo also had an impressive performance with 8 kills and one error on a .538 clip. The team posted 82 total digs on the night along with 6 team blocks.
Torrey Van Winden, former Bruin, fueled the Cal Poly offense with 16 kills on a .145 hitting percentage. She was fed by setter, Taylor Nelson, who recorded 36 assists and proved why she was the Big West Conference Player of the Year by adding 14 digs for a double-double. The back row was controlled by libero, Katherine Brouker, as she dug up 23 balls.
PRESS RELEASES
Courtesy of UCLA Athletics
LOS ANGELES – Senior Reily Buechler tied a career high with 26 kills, adding a .436 hitting percentage and 11 digs, as the 15th-seeded Bruins defeated Cal Poly in four sets on Saturday in the NCAA Second Round at Pauley Pavilion. Set scores were 26-28, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18.
The Bruins (21-10) advance to the Gainesville Regional and will take on #2-seed Florida next Friday. Match time will be determined. Cal Poly finishes its season at 27-3.
Senior Sarah Sponcil also had a double-double with 49 assists and 24 digs, setting the Bruins to a .282 hitting percentage. Junior Zana Muno added 26 digs, seven assists and a personal-best four aces, while sophomore Savvy Simo starred in the front row with eight kills and only one error in 13 attempts (.538), adding 10 digs. Sophomore Madeleine Gates had 13 kills, junior Kyra Rogers recorded nine kills and freshman Mac May posted four kills and five digs.
The first set featured 10 ties and five lead changes. UCLA led early 5-3, but Cal Poly responded with a 10-3 run to go up by a set-best five at 13-8. The Mustangs were still up by three at 19-16 when the Bruins scored four in a row on a Gates kill, two Muno aces and a Rogers/Sponcil block to go back up by one. Cal Poly re-took the advantage at 23-22, but back-to-back Buechler kills gave the Bruins a set point. The Mustangs saved it and then would get two of their own at 25-24 and 26-25, but a Buechler kill and Cal Poly attack error evened things at 26. However, the Mustangs scored the last two of the opener to win it 28-26. Buechler had 10 kills and no errors in 22 attempts in the first, while Gates and Rogers added three kills apiece. Sponcil recorded nine digs with her 11 assists and Muno had seven digs. The Bruins were out-hit .286 to .200.
UCLA lost the first point of set two, but scored the next two and led for the rest of the set. An 8-2 run for the Bruins after a 2-2 tie on two kills apiece from Buechler and Gates, one by freshman Jenny Mosser and three Cal Poly errors put the home team up by half a dozen. The Mustangs trimmed things to three at 14-11, but a 6-1 run on two Buechler kills, one from Gates and three Cal Poly errors gave UCLA a set-best lead of eight at 20-12. Leading 23-19, a Rogers kill and a May/Gates block closed out a 25-19 victory. Buechler added seven more kills in the second, while Gates was 3-for-8 with no errors. Muno posted six digs and Sponcil had five with her 12 assists, as the Bruins out-hit the Mustangs .271 to .152.
Cal Poly led by three at 11-8 in set three before the Bruins scored four in a row on a kill and ace by Buechler and kills from May and Muno to go up 12-11. Despite one more tie, UCLA led for the rest of the third. At 14-12, an 8-3 Bruin run on three Gates kills, a May ace, kills from Simo and Buechler and two Cal Poly errors made it 22-15. After a Mustang sideout, a Cal Poly service error, a Rogers/Buechler block and a visitor attack error wrapped up a 25-16 victory. Buechler, Gates and May all had three kills. Muno added eight digs and Sponcil posted five with 13 assists, as the Bruins out-hit the Mustangs .333 to .156.
The Mustangs led throughout the first half of set four. Trailing 13-11, back-to-back Simo kills and one from Gates put the Bruins up for good at 14-13. Cal Poly sided out the next point, but five in a row for the Bruins on two Gates kills, a Sponcil/Gates block, a Mustang attack error and a Buechler solo stuff put UCLA up 19-14. Leading 23-18, a Simo kill and block with Gates finished off a 25-18 victory and punched the Bruins ticket to Florida next weekend. Buechler was 6-for-7 with no errors in the fourth, Simo added six kills, Gates added four and Rogers was 3-for-4 with no miscues. Muno and Sponcil each had five digs. The Bruins out-hit the Mustangs .371 to .069.
Courtesy of Cal Poly Athletics
WESTWOOD- Despite double-doubles from Taylor Nelson, Torrey Van Winden and Adlee Van Winden, the Cal Poly volleyball team’s historic 2017 season and best season in program history came to an end Saturday after a hard-fought battle with UCLA inside Pauley Pavilion that ended in a four-set loss (28-26, 19-25, 16-25, 18-25) to snap the Mustangs’ program record 22 match-winning streak.
Nelson, a senior, finished with 36 assists and 14 digs for her eighth double-double of the season. Torrey Van Winden finished with a team-high 16 kills and 18 digs. Junior Adlee Van Winden added 11 kills and 14 digs. Senior Raeann Greisen also finished with 11 kills and junior libero Katherine Brouker led the Mustangs in digs with 23.
The teams traded points for the beginning part of the first set until down 5-4, Cal Poly went on a 4-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. Up 9-8, the Mustangs would score four straight points to take a 13-8 lead (the largest lead of the set) and force a Bruin timeout. UCLA would score three straight points following the timeout to cut the lead to three. After trading the next few points, UCLA would make a run of their own to cut the lead to one at 17-16 and force Cal Poly to call a timeout. The Mustangs would respond by scoring two straight points following the timeout to make it 19-17. The Bruins followed that by scoring three straight points to take the lead 20-19. The teams would trade points from there until, tied at 26, Cal Poly points scored two straight points including a Torrey Van Winden service that sealed the set for the Mustangs 28-26.
UCLA got out to a 6-2 lead to begin the second set to force Cal Poly to call a timeout. The Bruins would go up by as many as six at 14-8. The Mustangs would rally to cut the lead to three at 14-11 before UCLA went on a 6-1 run to take a 20-12 lead. Cal Poly then went on a 5-1 run of its own to cut the lead to 21-17 and force a Bruin timeout. The teams would trade two-point rallies after that before, up 23-19, two straight UCLA points would finish off the set 25-19 to tie it a one set apiece.
Tied at 4 in the third, the Mustangs scored three straight points to take a 7-4 lead. The Bruins would rally to take a 12-11 lead. A 6-2 run would give the Bruins a 17-13 lead. Up 19-15, UCLA scored three straight points to take a 22-15 lead. The Bruins would go on to win the set 25-16.
Needing to win the fourth set, the Mustangs came out strong to begin the set, getting out to a 7-4 advantage. UCLA would rally back to tie it at 7. The teams would continue to go back-and-forth from there until, tied at 14, the Bruins scored five straight points to take a 19-14 lead. UCLA would not look back from there, going on to win the set 25-18 to win the match to advance to the Sweet 16.
The Bruins were led by senior Reily Buechler who finished with a match-high 26 kills and 11 digs.
The Mustangs finish their historic season with a 27-3 record. A season that included the program’s first ever undefeated Big West Conference record that led to the program’s first conference title and NCAA Tournament appearance and win in 10 years, first Top 25 ranking since 2008, a perfect 8-0 record at home and the longest winning streak in program history.
Leave a Reply