The women’s volleyball team is a year older, has a
year’s more experience under its belt, and now is considered
to be one of the top contenders to win this season’s Pac-10
title.
In the Pac-10 Coaches Poll released Thursday, UCLA was picked to
finish second in the conference with 79 points, trailing only
perennial powerhouse Stanford, which garnered 89 points. The Bruins
also picked up two first-place votes, while the 2005
national-champion Washington Huskies received none and were picked
to finish third.
UCLA moved up in the national rankings as well, beginning the
2006 season at No. 10 on the AVCA preseason poll, after ending 2005
at No. 15.
For the Bruins, 2005 was a rebuilding season in which three true
freshmen were ushered into the starting lineup to fill the gaps
left by five seniors.
But this year, after losing only one senior, middle blocker
Nancy Barba, the Bruins are getting ready for a strong showing.
UCLA can rely on nine of its returnees who saw considerable court
time, seven of whom were regular starters at some point in the
season.
In addition to their solid returning class, the Bruins will have
two other weapons in sophomore transfers Ali Daley and Nikki
Jagd.
Daley, who was named the Big West Conference Freshman of the
Year last season at Long Beach State, will bring firepower from the
outside.
She averaged 3.43 kills per game and hit at an efficient .306
percentage as a 49er.
“Ali had a sensational year in the Big West last year, and
we’re looking forward to continuing her success in the
Pac-10,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski told uclabruins.com.
Jagd, daughter of UCLA assistant coach Kim Jagd, played her
freshman year as a backup setter at Pacific and will add more depth
behind sophomore setter Nellie Spicer.
“Nikki will give us solid experience and depth at
setter,” Banachowski said. “She has a lot of smarts,
coming from a family of coaches.”
So with Daley and Jagd added to the already dependable and
experienced core group of returnees, UCLA will be a force to be
reckoned with. The Bruins will have their first chance to defend
their top-10 ranking against unranked teams Tennessee Tech and
Western Michigan on Aug. 26.