Nov. 28, 2009

Box Score

LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Amanda Gil led the Bruins with 11 kills and six blocks, senior Kaitlin Sather posted 10 kills in her final regular-season contest at Pauley Pavilion and sophomore Lainey Gera recorded a match-high 23 digs, as the ninth-ranked Bruins swept Arizona State on Saturday. Scores were 25-19, 28-26, 25-22.

The Bruins close the regular season with a 23-8 overall record and a 13-5 mark in the Pac-10, tying Washington for second in the conference. Arizona State wraps up its year at 13-17 and 3-15 in league play.

Freshman Lauren Cook had a double-double with 36 assists and 10 digs, while freshman Bojana Todorovic had double figures in digs with 11. Senior Emily Clements, playing in her final regular-season match in Westwood, had two kills and a service ace. The Bruins hit .244 as a team with 10.5 blocks.

The Bruins never trailed in the opening set, scoring six of the first eight points to gain a 6-2 lead. Gil and Sather teamed up for a block to start the match and Clements followed with a kill. Arizona State came back with two of the next three, but the Bruins scored three in a row on a kill by sophomore Katie Camp, an ace by Sather and a solo roof by freshman Rachael Kidder. The Sun Devils bounced back to tie it at six, but another 3-0 run on kills by Camp and Sather and a Clements ace made it 9-6 UCLA.

Arizona State again rallied to even the score at 14, but the Bruins slowly pulled away. Leading 19-17, UCLA netted four of the next five to extend its advantage to five at 23-18. Gil had two kills and a solo block during the run, while Cook also had a spike. The Sun Devils sided out the next point, but a kill by Todorovic and an ASU attack error gave the Bruins a 25-19 victory. Gil had four kills to pace UCLA in the first, while Cook and Sather each posted three kills. The Bruins out-hit the Sun Devils .303 to .182.

The Sun Devils led throughout most of the second set, but the Bruins rallied late to take a 2-0 match lead. ASU took an early 7-2 lead and had a five-point advantage five more times before the Bruins slowly chipped away at their deficit. Down 15-10, UCLA notched the next six to take a 16-15 lead. After three straight ASU errors, freshman Mari Hole and Kidder had back-to-back kills and a Kidder/Camp combo roof gave the Bruins the lead. The Sun Devils came back with four of the next five to go ahead 19-17, but the Bruins got the next three on kills by Camp and junior Dicey McGraw and an ASU attack error to go up 20-19.

The lead changes continued as Arizona State was on the verge of closing out the set after a 4-1 run made it 23-21. The Sun Devils earned their first set point at 24-22, but a kill by Sather and a combo block by Camp and Sather evened things at 24. ASU again had set points at 25-24 and 26-25, but UCLA scored the last three of the set on a kill and ace by Hole, followed by a Sun Devil attack error to give the Bruins a 28-26 victory. Sather led the Bruins with five kills, while Gil added three. The Bruins held a .264 to .204 hitting advantage.

The Bruins didn't trail in the third set, but not without some nervous moments at the end. UCLA scored the first three on a Gera ace, an ASU attack error and a McGraw kill and had as much as a six-point lead at 9-3 and 10-4. The Sun Devils came back with a 5-1 run to cut their deficit to a pair at 11-9, but the Bruins ran it back up to five at 14-9 following an ASU service error, a Gil solo block and a spike by McGraw. ASU got even closer, getting to within one at 14-13 and 15-14, but four straight by UCLA on kills by Gil and Hole and back-to-back combo blocks by Gil and Sather and Gil and Hole increased the Bruins' lead to 19-14.

The Sun Devils wouldn't quit and eventually drew even for the first time since the set started at 22-all. But the Bruins finished off their guests with a spike by Camp, a Gera ace and a McGraw kill on match point to win it 25-22. McGraw paced the Bruins with four kills, while Gil added three in the closing set. The Bruins out-hit the Sun Devils .178 to .109.

Sofie Schlagintweit (11) and Sarah Reaves (10) each had double figures in kills for Arizona State, which hit .165 as a team.

The Bruins find out where their postseason journey begins on Sunday when ESPNEWS airs the NCAA Selection Show at approximately 12:10 p.m.