The UCLA women’s volleyball team is stepping out of
conference and traveling up the freeway to face Cal State
Northridge on Tuesday night in a matchup between the Pac-10 and the
Big West.
Though the Big West is dwarfed in prestige when compared the
Pac-10, the Matadors won’t be intimidated by the No. 8
Bruins. Northridge has already played ““ and beaten ““
two ranked opponents, conference rivals No. 19 UC Santa Barbara and
former No. 24 Pacific. Among the leaders of their conference, the
Matadors will surely give the Bruins a spirited match.
UCLA, on the other hand, is looking to give Northridge something
else.
“Hopefully we’ll be able to show them how tough the
Pac-10 really is,” coach Andy Banachowski said.
Coming off a successful weekend in Oregon, the Bruins (16-4, 8-3
Pac-10) are the winners of four of their last five matches. The
Matadors (12-6, 8-3 Big West), by contrast, have won seven
consecutive matches, mostly by way of the powerful arm of their
All-American candidate, senior middle blocker Jennifer Fopma.
A transfer from Pepperdine, Fopma is a one-woman wrecking crew:
She averages 5.16 kills per game, by far the best on the team. She
is also the Matadors’ leading blocker, with 11 solo and 70
total blocks.
“Northridge is playing extremely well right now,”
Banachowski said. “They’ve notched some good wins in
their conference.”
In terms of matchups, UCLA is clearly more balanced offensively
and much deeper as a whole.
Juniors Brynn Murphy and Heather Cullen are the kill leaders on
the team, but senior Cira Wright, junior Brittany Ringel and
freshman Becky Green are all genuine threats on the volleyball
court.
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Freshman outside hitter Colby Lyman did not play over the
weekend because of a pink eye infection.
The team is hopeful she will be available for the Bruins’
home matches against Washington State and Washington over the
weekend, but her participation in the match against Northridge is
doubtful.