Women’s volleyball coach Banachowski has 42nd year against USC

If it only takes one year for a UCLA student to learn how to hate USC, imagine what 42 years of the rivalry can do to a person.

Andy Banachowski, the No. 4 UCLA women’s volleyball coach, has a lot to say about the historic crosstown rivalry. He has lived and breathed the rivalry since he was a UCLA student in the 1960s. While he may be more familiar with the Trojans than the average UCLA alumnus, he still uses a word common in the Bruin vocabulary when describing USC: hate.

“I hate them,” Banachowski said. “As a rival I hate them. I don’t hate them personally. I think we have a great rivalry, as it should be.”

In his 42nd year of coaching, Banachowski has coached the Bruins against USC in more seasons than any other UCLA coach, except Al Scates. Scates is the current men’s volleyball coach and has been coaching the Bruins for 45 years. Scates has been at UCLA for such a long time that he was Banachowski’s coach on the men’s volleyball team.

Banachowski first felt the intensity of the rivalry during his days as a student athlete. For this reason, he can relate to his player’s excitement before a match against the Trojans.

“I think that’s where the feelings begin and when you learn what the rivalry is,” Banachowski said. “No matter what the sport is, it’s about the bragging rights and whether you walk with your head up or your head down after the match.”

Since 1970, the Bruins have held their heads high after a match more times than the Trojans, as the UCLA volleyball team leads the all-time series 53-48.

Last season, UCLA and USC split the series. The Bruins beat the Trojans in four games in October, and USC got revenge in four games in November.

Both UCLA and USC have run successful volleyball programs over the past four decades. From 1988 to 1994, the Bruins beat the Trojans in 14 consecutive matches. However, from 2001 to 2005, USC defeated UCLA 11 consecutive times.

“If you look back, there was a time when we went on a really hot streak, and we won a number of years in a row and they turned it around and they won a number of years in a row,” Banachowski said.

While Banachowski says that rivalry has been intense the whole time he has been at UCLA, the period when matches were held in USC’s North Gym stand out in his mind. USC’s North Gym is described as the “most intimidating home court advantage in the Pac-10.” Before the Trojans began hosting games in the Galen Center, they used the gym in their Physical Education Building, which was built in 1933.

“It was just impossible to hear in there when the bands were playing and we had 600 people in there,” Banachowski said. “But those were fun, intense matches played in really difficult situations. We have outgrown those types of facilities, but it still gets loud.”

This season, UCLA and USC both find themselves in the familiar position in the top five spots of the AVCA Division I Coaches Poll. The Bruins are currently the top-ranked Pac-10 team at No. 4, while the Trojans are one spot behind at No. 5. As the Bruins get set to face USC today, the same things that were on the line 42 years ago are at stake today. This season, Lexus Gauntlet points, bragging rights, Pac-10 standings and whether the Bruins will get to hold their heads up high will be determined by a win or loss against the Trojans.

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