Time is running out for senior middle blocker Nancy Barba. In
her final season as a Bruin, Barba will be facing off against USC
one last time tonight and will be hoping to finally get a win
against the Women of Troy under her belt.
The Bruins have a nine game losing streak against the Trojans
dating back to 2000. None of the current players, including the
lone senior on the team, Barba, have beaten USC.
“This will probably be (Nancy’s) last stab at
beating them, so we’re really excited about this game,”
freshman teammate Kaitlin Sather said.
Although this year’s USC squad is not at the same level as
the national championship teams of 2002 and 2003, beating the
Trojans will still prove to be a difficult task. The USC team is
undefeated at home this season.
However, assistant coach Mike Sealy feels his Bruins are capable
of beating the Women of Troy anywhere, even in the Lyon Center
where the Trojans have not lost a match this fall.
“I don’t believe home and away gyms are that big of
a factor,” Sealy said. “I think the ball’s the
same, the court’s the same, and as long as you’re
prepared to play, it doesn’t matter what gym you’re
in.”
Winning against USC would be a celebration in itself, but to be
the spoiler on the Trojan’s flawless home record would be
icing on the cake for the Bruins.
“To be able to ruin their record and beat them for the
first time would be awesome,” Barba said with a wide
grin.
To break the nine-game losing streak, UCLA will be looking to
get a strong performance from its offense, which needs a solid
defense to back it up.
“We have to be really aggressive on defense, be really
scrappy and pick up balls that we haven’t been picking up in
the last half of the season,” junior middle blocker Nana
Meriwether said.
USC runs a relatively slow offense with big physical players
such as senior All-American middle blocker Bibiana Candelas and
senior outside hitter Staci Venski, who led the Trojans in their
upset victory over then
No. 8 Arizona last weekend.
UCLA’s challenge is to step up defensively to slow down
the Trojans’ powerful hitters, according to Banachowski.
“We need to be a better blocking team,” Banachowski
said. “‘SC is not extremely deceptive in what they do.
They’re just very efficient in what they do and we’ve
got to cut down that efficiency.”
“(The Trojans) are equivalent to a football team that runs
the ball every time,” Sealy added. “You know what
they’re going to do, but stopping it is the hard
part.”
The combination of a strong defensive plan, the players’
increasing experience, rivalry aggression and the drive to win for
Barba has been the motivation UCLA needs to come away
victorious.
“I want this win more than anything,” Barba said.
“If I could win any game this season, this would be it for
sure.”