UCLA plays new opponent

With the Pac-10 season now over, the UCLA women’s volleyball team is ready to face a new breed of teams from around the country. After receiving the eighth overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins (20-10) are preparing to face an unfamiliar foe in Alabama A&M (15-9) in Clemson, S.C. tonight.

In his 41 years of coaching at UCLA, coach Andy Banachowski has never had one of his teams play Alabama A&M. This Friday marks the first time UCLA has competed against a team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference this season. Ever since the selection committee determined the brackets last Sunday, the Bruins have done their best to scout the Alabama A&M Bulldogs.

One thing the Bruins have noticed is that the Bulldogs are a relatively short volleyball team. Alabama A&M’s tallest player is junior middle blocker/outside hitter Brittani Lewis, who is listed at 6 feet. UCLA has a roster of ten players who are 6 feet or taller, which gives the Bruins the advantage at the net. Banachowski, however, recognizes that the Bulldogs have strengths in other areas.

“It looks like they are pretty athletic,” Banachowski said. “A number of them look like they jump pretty well. So, it looks like they will be making up for their lack of height with their athleticism.”

While both the Bulldogs and the Bruins are strangers to each other, Alabama A&M may have the upper hand in pre-match scouting. With six televised UCLA matches available, Alabama A&M has more tapes to study.

“We don’t know what types of things they run,” senior middle blocker Rachell Johnson said. “At the same time our games are televised, so I think we are more accessible to them. We’re going to have to make a lot of game-time adjustments.”

After finishing their Pac-10 season with a 9-9 record, the Bruins feel that the tough competition they have faced in the regular season has made them more than ready to play non-conference teams in the playoffs.

“I’m very confident that the Pac-10 season has prepared us for all styles of play, and whatever (the Bulldogs) do, we should be able to adjust,” Banachowski said.

UCLA views the NCAA Tournament as a new start. With the potential of a season-ending loss coming with each match, the Bruins welcome the intense atmosphere of the playoffs.

“There is a renewed excitement when you get into the playoffs,” Banachowski said. “I think that it’s kind of refreshing like starting over, everybody has a 0-0 record.”

If the Bruins beat Alabama A&M on Friday, they will face the winner of the Alabama-Clemson match on Saturday.

SPICER NAMED FIRST-TEAM ALL-PAC-10: For the third consecutive year, junior setter Nellie Spicer earned her spot on the First-Team All-Pac-10. Spicer finished the regular season with 19 double-doubles and was third in the Pac-10 with 12.80 assists per game. She is the 10th player in UCLA history to garner first-team honors three times.

“Nellie had made tremendous strides this year, as far as learning how to run a team,” Banachowski said. “It’s nice to see how Nellie has grown in her leadership role.”

Leave a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *