The UCLA women’s volleyball team had its first game of the season back in August, and since then, it’s played 14 matches on the road stretching from Oahu to Chicago.
This weekend, finally, the Bruins will play in front of their own fans. Legendary Pauley Pavilion will see its first action of the school year as UCLA hosts No. 10 Washington at 7 p.m. and then Washington State at the same time tomorrow.
Tonight’s matchup will showcase two very talented programs that have been tripped up by the start of Pac-10 play. Each team lost only one match in their nonconference schedules, and both looked poised to make strong runs at the league title. However, they have combined for four losses in two weeks against conference opponents.
Last season, the Bruins were swept twice by the Huskies, but with their influx of quality young players, UCLA is hoping to reverse that trend.
“Hopefully we can start to turn that tide a little bit,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “I think we’re a better blocking group this year than we have been. Because of that, we can slow their offense down a little bit.”
That blocking group includes Amanda Gil, who has the highest blocks-per-set average of all freshmen in the country. Washington, however, boasts a tough attack headlined by senior Jessica Swarbrick, who leads the conference in hitting percentage, and sophomore setter Jenna Hagglund, who is third in the nation in assists per set.
“They’re very precise and very persistent in what they do offensively,” Banachowski said. “It makes them hard to beat because they don’t beat themselves.”
When UCLA has struggled this season, it has generally been attributed to a lack of consistency in their intensity and a tendency to lose focus at stretches in the middle of a set. In such a competitive conference, well-practiced teams like Washington will most certainly capitalize on that weakness.
“Everyone’s been practicing hard so far this week on working to have that intensity level all the time, during every rally, and I think that will be something that we’ll need to bring (against Washington),” Banachowski said.
UCLA was handed an extra challenge this season due to the irregular format of their schedule, playing without a home game until now. But its effects can be interpreted in more than one way.
“I think it’s good because it teaches you how to play in different environments, so I think it’s great in terms of helping us mature as a team,” redshirt sophomore Emily Clements said. “At the same time, when you travel somewhere else, they have home court advantage. So I think we’re all excited to have that advantage back in our hands.”
If the Bruins hope to increase their energy level and maintain it for the entirety of the match, playing on their own court in front of a supportive crowd will definitely help their chances.
“We’re really looking forward to being at home after having so many games on the road,” Banachowski said. “We’ve had some exciting matches in the last few years at Pauley, and opening up against Washington is a good draw. It’ll be exciting.”