Following a string of games where they looked almost untouchable, the UCLA women’s volleyball team showed their humanity this weekend, stumbling against Arizona after sweeping Arizona State the previous night.

The team visited the desert hungry to extend its win streak, but met some unexpected resistance in the form of an even hungrier Wildcat team that upset the Bruins in five sets.

Leading the attack for UCLA was junior outside hitter Rachael Kidder, who had 26 kills and 14 digs against the Wildcats and 14 kills, five digs and four blocks against the Sun Devils. Junior outside hitter Bojana Todorovic played two games in a row with no errors and helped pace UCLA’s offense.

On the defensive end, senior Lainey Gera made her presence felt as well. The libero recorded her fifth 20-dig game of the season on Friday and topped herself the next night with 25 digs against the Wildcats. Gera said the four-game road trip was less of a factor than Arizona’s play on Saturday.

“I don’t think being on the road was a factor, but Arizona knew our weaknesses and took advantage of them and brought it to us. I think we were expecting an easier win than the outcome,” Gera said.

Both Gera and Kidder cited Arizona’s play as being above the level they expected, but both athletes were also positive about the win over Arizona State. UCLA played well the first night in the desert, creating leads in all three sets and holding on to them.

“I think on Friday we definitely had control of the match the whole time, everything was going our way and working out in our favor. I think it was different on Saturday because we were playing a team that really came to play,” Kidder said.

The match with the Wildcats went back and forth as both teams wrestled for control of momentum. There were six ties and three lead changes in the first set alone, and Arizona was able to pull through to win the tie-breaking fifth set.

“They were pushing us to play our absolute best and we haven’t been challenged like that many times this year, so I think we didn’t react very well to a team that really wanted to beat us and was willing to do anything they could to make it happen,” Kidder said.

Coach Mike Sealy added that the team struggled with details and stressed the importance of remaining aggressive. Sealy also said the team was flat against Arizona State despite their win.

“We were flat both nights. I think Arizona State gave up more runs of points. In each of the sets we played, we got them stuck in a rotation for seven points, and that ended up being the cushion we needed to win.”

He was even more critical of the team’s performance on Saturday, however.

A few little things resulted in not winning that match. The big thing is overall energy and chemistry. The team just didn’t show up to play; it looked like they didn’t want to be there. It’s a huge issue,” Sealy said.

“We’re better in the practice gym now, but it’s about being relentless and being able to compete for the love of competing, and we’re just not there.”

It’s not all bad news for the Bruins, though. Although the loss dropped them to third in the Pac-12 behind USC and Washington, their next four games are at home, where they remain undefeated this season. Both Gera and Kidder have had enough traveling for now.

“Whenever you come off a loss, you’re really excited to go back the next weekend and play whoever, wherever. We’re excited to be back at home for the next four games,” Gera said.

“I think our intensity in practice is going to have to go up this week, we’re going to have to push everybody to the limit to get us back where we were a few weeks ago.”