While many UCLA students will be at the Rose Bowl this weekend, the No. 10 UCLA women’s volleyball team (12-4, 2-3 Pac-10) will head to the desert to face Arizona (12-5, 2-3 Pac-10) and Arizona State (10-8, 1-4 Pac-10). In a crucial week that will determine who gets ahead in the Pac-10 standings, the Bruins are seeking a series sweep on the road.
UCLA travels to Tucson, Ariz., to face Arizona tonight. The Wildcats are currently in a three-way tie with the Bruins and USC for fifth place in the Pac-10 standings. While not yet at the midpoint of the Pac-10 season, UCLA would like to use this weekend to separate itself from the rest of the pack.
“We talked about the fact that we were tied with some teams going into this weekend,” said coach Andy Banachowski. “We have a chance to take control of the situation and move ourselves up the ladder a bit.”
UCLA has beaten Arizona in three of the past four matches and leads the all-time record 45-17. However, the Bruins ended the regular season on a sour note last year when they lost to the Wildcats on the road.
“It left us with a bad taste in our mouths going into playoffs,” Banachowski said. “I think we have always had challenging matches when we have gone down to play Arizona.”
The Wildcats rely on redshirt sophomore outside hitter Whitney Dosty, who averages 3.25 kills per set in conference play. While Dosty leads Arizona’s front row, UCLA is aware that the Wildcats have additional hitting weapons in sophomore outside hitter Tiffany Owens and senior outside hitter Brooke Buringrud.
“Whitney is one of their big hitters on the outside,” Banachowski said. “She is pretty powerful, but the other girls are equally offensive threats.”
The Bruins then move on to Tempe, Ariz., to play ASU on Saturday night. While UCLA has beaten the Sun Devils 11 times in a row, ASU has a new coach and a new attitude this season.
According to Banachowski, first-year coach Jason Watson seems to have built a more enthusiastic program this season. While ASU is tied for ninth in the Pac-10, the Bruins are aware that they cannot take the match against the Sun Devils lightly because ASU is a different team than it was a year ago.
“They got a new coach, so they are like a whole new team,” sophomore defensive specialist/setter Jazmin Machado said. “They might throw some new things at us.”
The series against the Arizona schools will test whether the Bruins deserve to move into the upper half of the conference standings. A sweep on this road trip will help keep UCLA in the running for the Pac-10 title.
“This is a really important weekend,” Machado said. “If we can come out with two wins against Arizona and ASU, that’s going to be huge for the Pac-10 standings.”