Oct. 29, 2004
LOS ANGELES (www.TheSunDevils.com) -- The 12th-ranked UCLA women's volleyball team posted a three-game sweep of Arizona State on Friday night in Pauley Pavilion with game scores of 30-21, 30-12, 30-27.
The Bruins (14-6, 7-3 Pac-10) were led by sophomore outside hitter Becky Green who had nine kills and 11.5 points, while the Sun Devils fell to 8-11 (3-7 Pac-10) with the loss and were led by Sarah Watkins with eight kills and 11 points in the match.
UCLA took an early 5-0 lead to start game one and never looked back, hitting .295 to ASU's .189 in the game. The Sun Devils were unable to recover in game two, as they hit .086 as a team in the game with 11 kills and eight errors on 35 attacks, while UCLA hit a blistering .591 with an error-free 13 kills on 22 attacks. Through two games, UCLA had out-blocked the Sun Devils 7-0 and had cruised through the game thanks in part to a nine-point serving run behind Carter to take a 13-2 lead.
Arizona State head coach Brad Saindon used the entire 10 minutes between games two and three to his best advantage, as his team took early leads of 8-4 and 19-13. Unfortunately, the Sun Devils then started having problems with service errors, as nine of the team's 19 service errors in the match occurred during the third game. UCLA would come back to tie the game at 21-21 on a Rachell Johnson kill, and the game was tied as late as 24-24 before consecutive kills by Becky Green and Katie Carter put the Bruins ahead for good.
Watkins (Mishawaka, Ind.) led the Sun Devils with eight kills and nine digs. She also recorded a match-high three service aces. Sophomore Nina Reeves (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Nicole Morton (Bonsall, Calif.) each contributed seven each. Freshman libero Sydney Donahue (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), who ranks sixth in the Pac-10 in digs per game, did not record a dig after leaving the match with an illness. Freshman defensive specialist Alison Lund (Bowie, Md.) filled in for Donahue with seven digs.
For the Bruins, Chrissie Zartman led all players with 17 digs, while Becky Green recorded nine kills with a .320 attack percentage to go along with two aces, 12 digs and a block assist for a team-high 11.5 points in the match. Nana Meriwether combined eight kills and five blocks for 11 points, while Katie Carter and Colby Lyman were also able to score in double figures in the match. For ASU, Sarah Watkins led the team with eight kills, three aces and nine digs for 11 points on the night.
UCLA out-blocked the Sun Devils 9-3, out hit them .304 to .165, out dug them 54-40 and had six aces to ASU's three, while recording 10 fewer service errors.
ASU returns to action Saturday night with a 7 p.m. match against No. 5 and defending national champion USC.
--Sun Devil Volleyball--