MATT CAPOWSKI

Junior outside hitter Lisa Rutledge looks disappointed after a miscue by the Wildcats earlier this season during a game in McKale Center. The Wildcats were swept this weekend in their matches against UCLA and USC.

Monday October 1, 2001

Bruins, Trojans take six-straight games from Arizona

What could have been the perfect homecoming trip to Los Angeles for several UA volleyball players this weekend turned into a nightmare.

The No. 3 Wildcats (7-2 overall, 2-2 in the Pacific 10 Conference) were outplayed during their two matches against No. 5 USC and No. 8 UCLA. UA was swept in both matches.

The story of the weekend was the lack of consistency shown by UA's offensive attack, a change from the balanced attack the Wildcats had displayed in their previous games.

UA senior outside hitter Jill Talbot was one of the few who played as well as expected, finishing the weekend with a .580 hitting percentage.

Talbot couldn't manage to carry the team by herself.

Junior outside hitters Lisa Rutledge and Shannon Torregrosa struggled during both matches.

Rutledge finished the weekend with 24 kills, but only managed a .250 hitting percentage, well below her season average.

Torregrosa led the team with 26 kills, but hit a dismal .210 for the weekend.

Rutledge's and Torregrosa's - who make up the left side of the Wildcat attack - ineffectiveness made it hard for Arizona to compete with the Trojans and Bruins.

"Arizona does have a lot of balance, and Talbot had a great match," said UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski about Friday night's match. "I think we served well enough that they could not get the ball where they wanted. That allowed us to block well, and I think that was the difference in the match."

Junior middle blocker Stefani Saragosa, who leads the nation with a .530 hitting percentage, also struggled over the weekend, accumulating only seven kills and a .210 hitting percentage.

In Friday's match versus the Bruins, UA faced its first quality opponent this season, and it showed.

UCLA (7-2, 2-1) handed the Wildcats its first loss of the season with a 30-27, 30-27, 30-19 sweep.

The Bruins were coming off two bad outings of their own against No. 1 Nebraska and USC.. UCLA was swept in both matches.

Saragosa said the Bruins looked like a different team Friday.

"UCLA played back-to-back games vs. USC and Nebraska, and they were swept," Saragosa said. "They came out ready to play. They got their butts kicked and we have been coasting all season. Coming to UCLA, we knew we had to play great and we came out flat. We know this is a wake-up call, and it showed us what it takes to be a great volleyball team."

UCLA was able to control the tempo from the start.

"We did not step up the level of intensity that they have, and we did not answer back," UA head coach David Rubio said. "We came in thinking we were going to win and we forgot we had to win a match. They were willing to fight, and we did not fight, and we were not determined"

Led by All-American Kristee Porter, who finished with a match-high 20 kills, UCLA's offense was too much for UA to handle.

The Bruins spread the ball around offensively, keeping the UA defense off-guard the entire match.

"We always get up for the Arizona game," Porter said. "It is always a fun match with great competition. We executed well and that was the key to our success. I was definitely surprised that the match was not as tight, but we will take it."

Banachowski said that the score did not accurately show how close the match really was.

"It was a very close match and the score was not apparent of that," Banachowski said. "We made some crucial plays at critical times. We wanted to show how good we are, and we were pretty motivated to come out and win tonight."

Trying to make up for the poor outing the night before, the Wildcats went into the Lyon Center determined to play better.

However, the Women of Troy were too much for the Wildcats, sweeping UA 30-25, 30-26, 30-22.

Both offenses were clicking, as the USC hitting percentage was .450 compared to .300 for UA.

Arizona became the first team to hit over .200 vs. the Trojans this season, but USC's high kill percentage was too much for UA to overcome.

"We did a poor job of playing defense," Rubio said. "Our blocking was not very good and our defense was very poor, which was the key to the match."

The first two games were close, but USC jumped out to an early 13-5 lead in the third game, leading Rubio to call two quick timeouts.

During the timeout, Saragosa yelled to her team to "Fight right now, fight right now."

The Wildcats were able to cut the lead to 23-19, but that was as close as they would get. USC won the third game 30-22.

With tears in her eyes, Saragosa said she was pleased with the team's effort.

"The hardest thing to swallow is the score was not an indicator of how hard we fought," Saragosa said. "It was a battle and there was a night and day difference in the way we played. We played with all of our heart and we gave a great effort."