USC Beats UCLA in a Mild Women’s Volleyball Upset

The football game is not until Saturday afternoon, but nothing, it seems, stands in the way of the USC-UCLA rivalry.

The schools got a head start on their fussing and feuding before 2,035 fans at the Sports Arena Wednesday night. In women’s volleyball, USC beat UCLA in a slight upset, 15-11, 15-10, 10-15, 5-15, 15-10.

“I felt that if we had any chance to win the national championship, we had to win this match,” USC Coach Chuck Erbe said. “We had to beat a team that is as good as this.”

The Bruins (24-6) are that good--they are the defending national champions. Adding extra import to the match is the NCAA tournament, which begins Dec. 7. Both teams had viewed this match as a key one going into the final few games of the season.

The Trojans (22-8) won the first two games, largely on the power hitting of Tracy Clark and Yvonne Lewis. Clark leads the nation in kills per game.

“We just had a monkey on our backs,” Erbe said. “We play just great, win the first two games then lose the third, lose the fourth and lose the fifth.”

It looked for a while as if the Trojans would continue lugging the monkey. The Bruins fought back in the next two games. UCLA won game three with the help of excellent setting by Michelle Boyette and then reeled off 13 straight points to win the fourth game.

USC had total control of the final game, using powerful serves to keep UCLA on the defense.

The volleyball rivalry between the two schools is nearly as intense as in football. Wednesday night’s match was broadcast over cable and even had TV time-outs. Big time.

This volleyball rivalry is not very old (going back to 1970) but it has been fierce. UCLA beat USC in a 3 1/2-hour, five-game match last month, the only other time the teams have met this season. The Bruins lead the series, 29-25.