Midway through the third game of their victory over California
on Saturday night, the members of the UCLA women’s volleyball
team must have stared collectively at the scoreboard and
cringed.
Sure, the Bruins were well on their way to snapping a four-game
losing streak, but the squad was in no hurry to close out the
match.
“We all had to get flu shots after the game,” head
coach Andy Banachowski said. “Nobody was excited at all about
that.”
While the post-game locker room may have resembled an infirmary,
the victory itself was relatively painless.
After being out-classed Friday night by No. 6 Stanford, the No.
18 Bruins (13-10, 6-7 Pac-10) salvaged a split against the Bay Area
schools, dominating every facet of the match against the Bears
(15-8, 5-8) en route to a three-game sweep 30-23, 32-30, 30-24.
The victory improved UCLA’s all-time record against Cal to
44-0, and kept the Bruins deadlocked with No. 17 Washington State
for fifth place in the Pac-10.
“This was a really huge win for us because we had not won
a game in a while,” said senior Lauren Fendrick, who led a
balanced Bruin attack with 14 kills. “We passed the ball
well, which allowed us to hit effectively.”
Cal never really challenged UCLA in the initial game of the
match, but it pushed the Bruins to their limits in game two. With
the score tied at 30, senior middle blocker Angela Eckmier recorded
a kill and a block-assist to give UCLA a two-game advantage.
Eckmier had six of her seven kills in the first two games of the
match, allowing the Bruins to coast to victory in game three.
“So much of what Angela does depends on the setters being
able to get her the ball,” Banachowski said. “I think a
couple of kills she had against Stanford gave her a lot of
confidence.”
The Bruins’ inability to finish points has haunted them
during a four-game skid that has seen them slide to the outskirts
of the playoff picture. Prior to Saturday night’s game, UCLA
was last in the Pac-10 in hitting percentage, but its offense
seemed to find its rhythm against the Bears.
Playing predominately error-free volleyball, the squad hit .286
against Cal ““ the first time the Bruins have hit over .200 in
a match since defeating the Bears 3-1 on Oct. 4 at Haas
Pavilion.
“We played the way we wanted to play offensively,”
Banachowski said. “We felt it was a must-win game with us
being at home. You’ve got to protect your home court
advantage.”
One factor that aided the Bruins was the absence of outside
hitter Mia Jerkov, Cal’s primary offensive weapon. The
6-foot-3 sophomore leads the Bears with 415 kills this season, but
has been sidelined with a sprained ankle for four of her
squad’s last five matches.
“They’re a very different team without Jerkov out
there,” Banachowski said. “She’s the hammer on
their team, and they didn’t have that tonight. Without her, I
think they had more difficulty getting side-outs than
usual.”
Faced with the chance to delay their flu shots for as long as
possible, the Bruins instead appeared to be sick at the thought of
losing a fifth consecutive game. They turned in their best
performance of the conference season, and made quick work of the
short-handed Bears.
“Getting the win against Cal was what we needed to
do,” Banachowski said. “I felt really confident going
into the game. We’ve worked so hard, and it feels good to
come away with a win.”