Dec. 3, 2005
Box Score | Quotes
LOS ANGELES, CA - In NCAA Tournament second round play at Pauley Pavilion, 16th-seeded UCLA brought an end to San Diego's 2005 season with a resounding three-game victory. Game scores went 30-24, 30-23 and 30-19. USD (23-6) was making its fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and the school's ninth in the past ten seasons. Four UCLA (20-10) players reached double-figures in kills, including 14 by junior MB Nana Meriwether (Potomac, MD), putting the Bruins among 16 teams nationally in the tournament's regional semi-finals.
A passive start, beginning with service errors from both sides, gave-way to an 8-1 UCLA run after an ace by sophomore OH Erin Wiskar (Port Moody, British Columbia) had tied the score at 12-12.
With hopes of curbing the Bruins early momentum San Diego called a pair of timeouts, cutting a 20-13 deficit down to four, 23-19, on a dump point from senior All-American Lindsey Sherburne (Saratoga, CA). However the Toreros had trouble finding a rhythm defensively, allowing the Bruins to hit .410 collectively during UCLA's 30-24 Game One victory.
Owning 7-3 record inside Pauley Pavilion entering Saturday's second round match, the Bruins led throughout Game Two- building a 15-11 advantage before a media timeout stopped play at the midway point. Consecutive points at the net courtesy of Bruin attackers Nancy Barba (Austin, TX) and Kaitlin Sather (Santa Rosa, CA) put UCLA in front 21-16.
Despite answering with a pair of points, including a quick set kill from USD MH Laurel Abrahamson (Bloomington, MN), the Bruins continued its torrid hitting pace to take a commanding two-game advantage into the locker room.
Torero freshman OH Jeanne Fairchild (Albuquerque, NM) blocked a UCLA attack and followed with one of her seven kills to allow USD an early 7-5 lead in Game Three. Fueled by five of Meriwether's 14 kills, the Bruins had little trouble completing the sweep- taking Game Three 30-19.
