COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL : USC Youth Can’t Match UCLA Experience

High-flying USC, winner of 11 in a row and among the nation’s 10 best women’s volleyball teams for the first time in three years, crash landed at Pauley Pavilion Wednesday night, recovering only in time to walk away with some respect.

UCLA won the match, but not before fighting it out in a fourth game that never should have been played, escaping with a 15-1, 15-6, 11-15, 16-14 victory before 2,588.

USC, 11-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pacific 10 Conference, stepped onto the floor every bit the young and inexperienced team it is, bungling away the first two games in less than 45 minutes.

“Nervous--flat, not passing, not digging, not serving,” was the postgame reasoning offered by Trojan Coach Lisa Love.

But defending national champion UCLA suffered a breakdown thereafter, and the Trojans took advantage by opening the third game with the aggressiveness and spirit that earned them a No. 9 ranking, taking an 11-5 lead and forcing a fourth game.

It appeared the Trojans would send the match into a fifth and deciding game, but the Bruins, down 10-1, fought back behind the hitting of Natalie Williams and Elaine Youngs.

UCLA took the lead, 15-14, on a double block by Lisa Hudak and Jennifer Gratteau and eventually won the match on another block by the Bruin front line.

“There was a definite lull on our part, a breakdown,” UCLA Coach Andy Banachowski said. “We found it hard to recapture the fire (of the first two games).”

Such lulls are the reason the Bruins, with losses to Hawaii and Cal State Long Beach, have slipped from No. 1 to No. 4. They are 12-2, 5-0.

“It may be a roller-coaster ride this season,” a concerned Banachowski said.

Williams finished with a team-high 19 kills and 16 digs, Youngs with 17 and 14.

Kiersten Finch of USC led all players with 21 kills. Katie Haller had 15.

With the victory the Bruins maintain their dominance in the Pac-10, with 60 victories in a row dating to 1987. The Bruins have also won 50 in a row at UCLA, site of this year’s final four.

That could all change when No. 1 Stanford comes to Westwood Oct. 19.