A long flight to a tranquil island setting marks the beginning
of the 2003 women’s volleyball season. The team will open its
schedule with a match against Louisville at the Hawaiian Airlines
Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii.
There has been relatively little turnover in the roster from
this past year; the Bruins will return most all their starting
lineup, including team captains Krystal McFarland, Heather Cullen
and first team All Pac-10 selection libero Chrissie Zartman.
UCLA, which went 20-15 in the previous season, lost only one
starting senior, outside hitter Lauren Fendrick, to graduation.
Unfortunately, that fact leaves the team even thinner in an area
where they struggled mightily in the past season: UCLA hit only
.213, its worst total since 1996. The outside hitters registered
even lower, at .201.
In order to help jump-start the offense, head coach Andy
Banachowski focused his recruiting on the outside hitter position,
and the incoming freshman class is considered one of the top in the
nation. Becky Green, Colby Lyman and Rachell Johnson join
6-foot-3-inch middle blocker Katie Carter as four quality recruits
that are looking to make an impact right away.
The team will not play in Pauley Pavilion until Sept. 19, but
its first home game will be quite a test for this relatively young
team. The defending national champions and arch-rival USC Trojans
are up first on the home schedule.