The number of losses the No. 5 UCLA women’s volleyball team has surrendered to No. 11 Oregon and Oregon State can be counted on one hand. Unfortunately for the Bruins, two of those losses came just last season.
In light of this recent history, the Bruins (10-2, 0-1 Pac-10) will approach this week’s series against the Oregon schools with caution.
Last season, both the Oregon Ducks (11-3, 0-2 Pac-10) and the Oregon State Beavers (11-4, 0-2 Pac-10) upset a higher-ranked UCLA team in some of the most shocking matches of the Pac-10 season.
Despite a 47-2 all-time record against Oregon and 42-3 all-time record against Oregon State, the memory of last season’s disappointment in the Beaver State still lingers.
“We’re going to approach this weekend like we would any other weekend and take every team just as seriously as any team we have played so far,” senior libero Jessica Fine said.
Tonight, the Bruins face Oregon at infamous McArthur Court, one of the toughest locations for visiting teams. Its smaller structure size and the close proximity of the crowd lends itself to maximum volume.
Last year at “Mac” Court, Oregon utilized its home-court advantage to sweep UCLA in straight sets.
“It’s a difficult court to play on, but it’s fun because they always have a good crowd,” Fine said.
The Ducks have been running a quick-paced offense this year, and in practice, the Bruins have run drills to simulate this.
For the bulk of their scoring, the Ducks rely on a duo of outside hitters in senior Gorana Maricic and junior Sonja Newcombe. Maricic had 25 kills in Oregon’s upset over UCLA last season, while Newcombe added nine.
Oregon might also be seeking revenge. Last December, UCLA ended Oregon’s season by knocking the Ducks out of the NCAA Tournament.
“Oregon might have it out for us,” Fine said. “They will have a little bit more motivation than the average team would.”
On Saturday the Bruins will take on Oregon State. While the Beavers have remained in the bottom half of most statistical categories and conference, they have an offensive weapon in junior outside hitter Rachel Rourke. Rourke is ranked fifth in the Pac-10 in kills per game, and the Bruins will game-plan to shut her down.
According to Fine, UCLA’s main goal this weekend is to not let history repeat itself. Also, UCLA hopes to get back on track with a pair of solid conference road wins.
“We are excited to go out there and show them that we will most likely continue the record against them,” Fine said.