By Grace Wen
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
David and Goliath. Pepsi and Coke. Reebok and Nike. Rivalries
are what we live for and none are greater than UCLA vs. USC.
It doesn’t matter what the sport is. When UCLA takes on USC, the
battle to be the best or just to outdo one another creates
intensity – driven competition that is every sports fan’s
dream.
Saturday’s match should be no different. The UCLA women’s
volleyball team (9-3, 2-0 Pacific 10) will travel to the North Gym
of their crosstown rival, USC (7-2, 1-1), in the first of two
meetings this season.
"When you play your crosstown rival, it always makes for an
intense match," UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski said. "A lot of
people who aren’t pure volleyball fans will come out because of the
rivalry between USC and UCLA.
"It’s going to be a real test for us and real exciting playing
in a confined area, in the North Gym over there. I think that’s
going to heighten the intensity of the match quite a bit."
Banachowski could be right, since USC used to play home matches
in the Lyon Center but has moved its games to the North Gym, which
has a capacity of only 1,000.
"Everyone wants to beat UCLA," USC sophomore outside hitter
Jennifer Kessy said. "I think that home court is a big advantage,
plus our band. It’s just a small gym and it’s tough for opponents
to overcome the loud and obnoxious crowd."
Of course home court advantage doesn’t necessarily guarantee a
victory. Last year USC embarrassed UCLA at Pauley Pavilion. The
Bruins lost in five games after being up two games to one. It was
the first time in seven years that UCLA lost to the Trojans. But
UCLA returned the favor when the teams met later that season.
No, it is more likely that how each team performs on the court
will decide the winner. Banachowski expects USC’s hitters to be the
biggest challenge for the Bruin squad.
"They have one of the quickest middle attackers in Jasmina
(Marinkovic)," Banachowski said. "She’s a tremendous challenge to
try and stop. They have steady outside hitting with the return of
Kessy and Vesna (Dragicevic)."
Marinkovic is second in the Pac 10 with a .420 attacking
percentage and averages 4.34 kills per game. Dragicevic and Kessy
are second and third on the Trojan squad with 3.68 and 3.34 kills
per game.
Despite USC’s hitting power, UCLA will counter with some big
blocking and hitting of their own. Freshman Elisabeth Bachman is
right behind Marinkovic in hitting percentage at .419 and records
1.42 blocks per game. Senior Kim Krull hits 4.19 kills a game and
contributes defensively as well with 2.86 digs per game.
"There’s not many teams in the conference or in the country that
are as tall as UCLA is, which clearly presents a good challenge at
the net," USC head coach Lisa Love said. "They’re a very good
hitting and blocking team which is going to present challenges for
everybody, including us.
"They’ve got a nice blend of youthful talent, some experienced
older hitters. I think their effectiveness has been in their
ability to get attack production from a lot of different
people."
In a battle likened to David and Goliath, UCLA’s block will go
up against a smaller, scrappy USC team. Nonetheless, Kessy expects
USC to win against UCLA. "I think that our defense and blocking
will just overcome UCLA’s big block."
* * *
Junior outside hitter Kara Milling will be out of the lineup for
at least another three weeks. Milling suffered a foot injury
against Utah in an early-season tournament. She is expected to
return for UCLA’s match against Washington.