REELIN’ IN THE CHEERS

A Bruin Team Worth Cheering — 6th-Ranked UCLA Women’s Volleyball is almost sent reeling after losing a set to lowly Colorado, but the Steely Bruins avoid a Black Friday by doing the Dirty Work in Set 4 to win the match, and will try to Do It Again on Saturday night vs. Utah

They got a a name for the winners in the World, and at least in Volleyball, that name today is still UCLA.  It’s been really tough for the UCLA Spirit Squad to cheer the Football team lately, but it was a lot easier for the contingent that attended the Volleyball match on Friday night at the Wooden Center, as heavily-favored UCLA put down the Colorado Buffaloes, 3 sets to 1.

Surprisingly, the Bruins had to dig deep to attain victory.  The Buffs had never won a single set in the Pac-12, losing their first THIRTY-THREE sets in a row in Conference play coming into this match.  But after losing the first two sets on Friday night, badly, they suddenly sprung to life.  Perhaps the Bruins got a little complacent, because the overmatched Buffaloes dominated the 3rd set, leading it all the way, usually by about 4 or 5 points.  And they continued their success for the first half of the 4th set, before the Cheerleaders and the raucous crowd finally re-energized the Bruins to bounce back.  The 4th set was a nail-biter, but the Bruins ultimately prevailed, 25-23 to win the match.

Congratulations to Colorado for finally winning their first-ever set in Pac-12 play, especially after quickly falling behind 2 sets to 0.  But bigger congratulations to the Bruins, for making a gym full of Bruin fans briefly forget about the floundering Football team, by reminding them what it feels like to win.

Below are 35 photos from the match, including 20 of the 5 Dance Teamers who were there to cheer the Bruins to victory.  Click on the horizontally-shaped pics to ZOOM in.