This weekend was the perfect chance for the women’s
volleyball squad to prove itself as one of the top teams in the
nation. With No. 12 California (17-8, 6-8 Pac-10) and No. 2
Stanford (21-3, 12-2 Pac-10) on their plate, the Bruins were hoping
to sweep the weekend and put a stamp on their already remarkable
season.
And for a moment, the Bruins (25-3, 12-3 Pac-10) sat atop the
Pac-10 standings with Washington. UCLA beat the Cal Bears on Friday
while USC took down the Cardinal, putting the Bruins and the
Huskies both at 12-2. On Saturday, however, the Bruins were brought
down by Stanford, 17-30, 30-25, 30-26, 30-27.
At first it seemed as if the Bruins’ momentum from the Cal
victory would help them steamroll over Stanford. UCLA cruised to a
30-17 victory in Game 1, amassing a lead as large as 14 points and
holding the Cardinal to its lowest point output of the season.
“(The Stanford team was) very disorganized at the start of
their match because (middle blocker) Foluke Akinradewo didn’t
play and they were getting used to the lineup,” UCLA coach
Andy Banachowski said. “It took them a little while to figure
out what they were going to do.”
But once the Cardinal did figure out how to work around the
absence of their top middle blocker, the Bruins were not able to
respond.
“Our outsides didn’t have good nights,”
Banachowski said. “Maybe we became a little predictable so
they were able to release their blockers to the outside and camped
there.”
The Bruins dropped from their Game 1 average of .464 to .082 for
the remainder of the match. Meanwhile, Stanford, which was not
significantly more efficient than UCLA, hit a notch higher at .167
in the final three sets.
Only middle blockers Nana Meriwether and Rachell Johnson were
able to hit efficiently against the Cardinal, Meriwether’s
with 17 kills at a .361 clip and Johnson with 12 kills at a .296
average.
However, UCLA was able to quash Stanford’s outside duo of
Cynthia Barboza and Kristin Richards. Though the two put down 15
and 12 kills, respectively, they combined for a meager .069 kill
percentage.
“Our right-side blockers are getting better and
better,” Banachowski said. “Those two started hitting
negative after the first game.”
Friday’s game against the Bears was a different story
altogether. In four sets, UCLA came back from a one-game deficit to
take down Cal, 23-30, 30-23, 32-30, 30-28.
The Bruins were hitting at -.026 until Game 2, when they began
to turn up the heat. From that point on, UCLA outhit the Bears,
.294 to .232, for the rest of the night. And the Bruins were sure
to key in on Morgan Beck, who was virtually unstoppable in the
October matchup.
“We did a much better job, certainly, on (Beck),”
Banachowski said. “Our blocking is really paying dividends,
helping us to control offenses.”
Perhaps the biggest thrill of the night was UCLA’s
third-set rally. Down 29-25, the Bruins staved off four game points
to overtake the Bears in the pivotal Game 3.
“It was really encouraging to see us go back and hold off
those game points and go on that scoring run that we did,”
Banachowski said. “The team plays hard and plays with a lot
of heart. They’re not afraid to lay it out there.”
Though the Bruins did not reach their goal of beating Stanford
this season, they still have their sights set on finishing off the
regular season with a bang, beginning with cross-town rival USC
this Friday.
DIG FOR THE CURE: Saturday’s match
against Stanford was dubbed the “Dig for the Cure”
match in an effort to raise awareness for breast cancer. Though
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month was officially in October,
the Cardinal and Bruin players alike wore pink ribbons sporting
their jersey numbers in their hair for the first two sets, after
which the ribbons were sold to support the Susan G. Komen Breast
Cancer Foundation. Money was also pledged per dig.