Bruin middle blocker Angela Eckmier has seen her college
volleyball career come to an end.
The 6-foot-2-inch senior from Simi Valley tore her right ACL
Tuesday after colliding with a teammate in practice and will
undergo surgery today. The injury will prevent her from
participating in the remainder of the season and will end her
career at UCLA.
“She’s the best blocker on the team and the nicest
girl anyone will ever hope to meet,” freshman Haley
Jorgensborg said. “All she wanted to do her senior year was
play.”
Angela has started every match this season, averaging 1.87 kills
and 1.17 blocks per game. She leads the team with 91 blocks, 20
more than second-place Cira Wright.
Eckmier redshirted in 2000 after suffering the same injury, an
ACL tear in her right knee. She returned in 2001 to average 1.3
blocks per game and was ultimately selected for the Honorable
Mention Pac-10 All-Academic Team.
“To lose a senior like Angela is huge,” head coach
Andy Banachowski said. “She’s such a hard worker. To
not have her complete her senior year is disheartening.”
As one of only two seniors to play this season, Eckmier provided
much needed leadership for the young team Bruin team. She was also
an emotional leader, exuding a confident attitude that the rest of
her younger teammates picked up.
“She’s awesome,” Jorgensborg said. “Just
when we were starting to really connect, this happens.”
Her loss comes at an especially bad time for the Bruins. The
team needs to win most of their remaining games in order to secure
a playoff spot. If the Bruins struggle in Oregon this weekend, the
team may miss out on the postseason entirely.
“We’ve got to get things going on the road, but it
will be hard without Angela,” Jorgensborg said.
True freshman Nancy Barba will replace Eckmier on the Oregon
road trip, making her first start of the season. The freshman has
played in a total of two games, recording one block and one
kill.