Bruins regard Trojans as just fun and games
Bruin spikers meet cross-town rivals after Stanford loss
By Eric Branch
Daily Bruin Staff
1987. Ronald Reagan was president. Walt Hazzard coached
basketball at UCLA. Bruin freshman outside hitter Kara Milling was
in the sixth grade, and the USC women’s volleyball team beat UCLA
for the last time.
The Trojans seven-year, 13-match streak of futility has seen
them drop 39 of the 44 games to the Bruins (15-2 overall, 5-1 in
Pac-10). This afternoon in a 4:30 p.m. match in Pauley Pavilion,
the 15th-ranked Trojans (10-3, 4-2 ) will attempt to end the
embarrassment against their 4th-ranked (15-2, 5-1) cross-town
rivals and Trojan junior outside hitter Kelly Kuebler is ready for
the slide to end.
"Beating UCLA has always been one of our goals since I’ve been
here," Kuebler said. "Every year the seniors say they want to get
out of here beating UCLA. Unfortunately it hasn’t happened. It’s
frustrating to keep losing to them."
This year, two Trojan seniors are awaiting their first taste of
victory over UCLA. Middle blockers Meika Wagner and Lauri Yust.
Wagner, a 1993 All-Pac-10 selection, leads the Trojans in kills
(172), and her 3.74 kills per-game average ranks ninth in the
conference. Yust, the Trojans other go-to hitter, paces USC with a
.378 attack percentage and 1.87 blocks per game (5th in NCAA).
Yust’s 28 solo blocks leave her 15 away from the all-time Trojan
mark.
"We would really love to send them out with a bang," Kuebler
said. "We will be ready. The USC-UCLA rivalry fires us up a
lot."
Both the Bruins and Trojans enter today’s match somewhat humbled
by their trips to the Bay Area last weekend. Both teams beat Cal
but were spanked by top-ranked Stanford. The Bruins lasted four
games, becoming the third team this season to take a game from
Stanford. The Trojans, however, were swept by the Cardinal.
"The Stanford match gave us a good idea where we are at right
now," UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski said. "We probably feel a
little bit better about ourselves and our abilities. We realize we
can compete with anyone, it’s just a matter of going after it."
* * *
In the latest Pac-10 statistics, senior outside hitter Annett
Buckner is first in kills, averaging (5.13), and sixth in hitting
percentage (.323). Senior middle blocker Alyson Randick ranks
second in blocks (1.63) and fourth in hitting percentage, while
sophomore middle blocker Kim Krull’s 1.45 block average places her
fourth in the conference.
* * *
This afternoon’s match is being televised live on Prime Ticket,
and Prime Network will air the match in a national delayed telecast
at 7 p.m. This afternoon is also Beach Day in Pauley Pavilion, with
the first 500 fans receiving free beach chairs. Courtside beach
chair seating will be provided.