LOS ANGELES - Sophomore Bojana Todorovic had a career-high 21 kills to go along with 12 digs for a double-double, while senior Dicey McGraw (19), sophomore Rachael Kidder (15) and junior Sara Sage (10) also had double figures in kills, but the ninth-ranked Bruins dropped a five-set decision to #6 USC on Friday at Pauley Pavilion. Set scores were 25-20, 21-25, 20-25, 25-20, 13-15.
The Bruins fall to 21-8 overall and 11-7 in Pac-10 play, while the Trojans close the regular season at 25-4 and 14-4 in league action.
Junior Lauren Van Orden also had a double-double with 63 assists and 10 digs, while junior Lainey Gera (28) and freshmen Kelly Reeves (13) and Meg Norton (12) were in double figures in digs. The Bruins hit .225 for the match.
The Bruins had an early lead, fell behind and then came back to take the opening set. Tied at five, the Bruins scored three in a row on a combo block by Sage and Van Orden, a kill from McGraw and a USC attack error. The Trojans battled back with five in a row and 10 of the next 13 to go ahead 15-11. UCLA began its comeback though, scoring the next five to re-take the lead at 16-15. Two kills by Kidder and one from Sage got the Bruins to within one and back-to-back Trojan attack errors put UCLA on top by one.
The Trojans netted the next two to go up 17-16 and still led at 18-17, but the Bruins posted four in a row on two kills by McGraw and two USC attack errors to take a 21-18 advantage. USC closed its deficit to one at 21-20, but UCLA registered the last four points of the opener to win it 25-20. A kill by McGraw, a USC attack error and a Todorovic kill gave the Bruins set point, and yet another error by the Trojans sent the home squad to a five-point win. McGraw paced the Bruins with four kills in the first, while Kidder and Sage had three apiece. The Bruins out-hit the Trojans .303 to .175.
UCLA scored the first point of the second set, but USC came back with the next three and never relinquished the lead. On top 3-2, the Trojans scored six of the next seven to take a set-best lead of six at 9-3. However, the Bruins rallied with a 9-3 run to tie the score at 12. Trailing by six, a 5-1 UCLA spurt cut the home squad
