The UCLA women’s volleyball team claims it has reached a new height.
Fortunately, the opportunity to truly test that hypothesis has arrived right at its doorstep.
This weekend, the No. 10 Bruins (14-4, 4-3 Pac-10) will host the top two teams on the West Coast to see if their newfound confidence will hold water against a pair of tough opponents.
Tonight’s adversary, No. 4 California (17-1, 7-0), has rolled through the first part of its conference season with ease and is showing no signs of slowing down. Up until last weekend, the Golden Bears had gone an entire month without losing a single set.
Then, on Sunday, the Bruins will face reigning conference champion No. 5 Stanford (15-3, 6-1), a team that has beaten UCLA the last 15 times they have met, including a crushing defeat in the quarterfinals of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
By earning their first weekend sweep of the Pac-10 season last week at the Arizona schools, the Bruins think they have not only moved up in the standings, but also gotten over a much-needed mental roadblock.
“I think we made a huge jump this weekend as far as our confidence,” senior outside hitter Ali Daley said. “As far as having that chemistry on the court, that all just kind of clicks. We found that in Arizona this weekend.
“You know that one little puzzle piece that you’re missing, and you’re kind of trying to find it for awhile and it’s so hard. We found that puzzle piece, in my opinion.”
Even if UCLA has indeed found its missing link, it’s going to take a top performance to defeat the talent flooding down from Northern California into Pauley Pavilion this weekend.
Cal’s statistical leader is junior outside hitter Hana Cutura. Originally from Croatia, Cutura leads the conference and is ninth in the nation with 4.54 kills per set, amassing 23 in the Bears’ victory in four sets against Stanford at Maples Pavilion last Sunday. But Cal makes sure to spread the ball around on offense, converting the second most kills per set of any team in the country. And the list goes on, as the Bears’ setter, sophomore Carli Lloyd, serves up the second most assists nationally.
In general, when UCLA prepares for a specific team, it is the defense that will have to make the most adjustments, and with an attack as deadly as Cal’s, the Bruins must study hard.
“We’ve been changing our defense a lot to efficiently affect their offense,” freshman defensive specialist Lainey Gera said. “Our offense, we just need to do our own thing on offense, but defense is mainly what you have to change against strong hitters like that.”
Although Stanford lost its grip on the top spot in the Pac-10 with its loss to Cal, its perennial role as conference bully has not been relinquished. The Cardinal’s potent offense hits at a .322 percentage to lead the conference. Stanford also possesses the only player in the conference with more blocks than UCLA’s own freshman Amanda Gil, in senior middle blocker Foluke Akinradewo.
“We prepared a little earlier than normal for both Cal and Stanford because we want to get really, really good looks at them,” Daley said. “We’re forming our defense and the way we’re playing right now around what we’re seeing. We’re changing things to work toward our advantage.”
UCLA has been working hard to ensure that it maintains its intensity for the entirety of matches, which will certainly be necessary against these types of quality opponents.
“We need to raise our standards of competing,” Gera said. “Sometimes, our coaches say we’re too nice. We just need to be more cutthroat and just play our game.”
If the Bruins do see themselves as contenders at the elite level, this is the weekend to prove it.