Senior outside hitter Zach Rama had 19 kills to lift No. 1 UCLA to a four set victory Friday over No. 5 USC at Pauley Pavilion.
The game was a rematch of Tuesday’s crosstown rivalry where the Bruins beat the Trojans in five at Galen Center– the first match in 18 days for USC.
UCLA continued its undefeated streak, improving to 16-0 and 5-0 in the Big Ten on the season.
USC moved to 8-3, 1-2, falling to 47-110 all-time against UCLA.
During warmups, both teams sported “Live Like Braun” t-shirts, honoring 18-year-old Braun Levi who was killed by a drunk driver last year. Braun was friends with athletes on both USC and UCLA.
Despite several scrappy attempts from the Trojans, the Bruins were more efficient on offense.
“Their level of physicality at the net, their precision of a lot of things is something that we need to adopt and we need to be able to dial in a lot better,” USC head coach Jeff Nygaard said. “We just didn’t get a good swing or we just tipped the ball.”
The Bruins also dominated on defense, with eight blocks in the match compared to the Trojans’ four. Rama had one ace and two blocks. Sophomore outside Sean Kelly had 17 kills, two blocks and two aces.
USC senior outside Dillon Klein had 16 kills and a block, followed by sophomore outside Sterling Foley with 10 kills, two blocks and one ace.
UCLA left much to be desired from the service line, with 27 service errors– giving away more than a full set’s worth of points.
But their power and tenacity at the net made up for it, as UCLA won the first set 25-22.
The Bruins also went 20 for 20 on serve receive for the set.
There were 10 tie scores before UCLA pushed ahead at 14-12, expanding to a 4-point lead at 21-17.
The set finished with a kill by Rama.
USC won the second set 25-23 with 14 tie scores.
An ace by Foley brought it to 24-22. Kelly responded with a kill. The set closed on a service error for the Bruins.
After the intensity of the first two sets, it seemed the Trojans had a chance. But they quickly ran out of steam.
UCLA won the third 25-15.
“We came in and we had a high-level game one and two. Then all of a sudden we didn’t,” USC head coach Jeff Nygaard said. “And that’s on us to learn. That’s on us to grow. That’s on us to embrace and own.”
The Bruins had two 4-point runs in the second half of the set. The second run led to a score of 21-11.
At 23-15, Foley was up to serve. Amid deafening “boos” from the crowd, he served into the net.
Rama ended the third set with an ace.
UCLA won the final set 25-19.
Following a UCLA service error, redshirt junior opposite hitter David Decker ended with a kill to roars from the sea of Bruin blue and gold in the stands.
If the Trojans can continue to bring the energy from Tuesday and the first two sets of Friday’s match, they stand to be top contenders by the end of the season.
“This is March, and our goal is in May,” Nygaard said. “So we have 12 matches to figure out how we get from where we are right now to being a little bit more consistent.”
USC plays at Concordia Thursday, March 12.