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CORRECTION: The graphic accompanying this article should have said that the California Bears lost to opponents UCLA and Washington. California beat Washington State 3-0 on Oct. 10.

Halfway through fall quarter, the majority of UCLA students are focusing on midterms.

Meanwhile, the members of the women’s volleyball team have their own version of midterms to focus on.

With exactly half of their conference matches behind them, the No. 11 Bruins have been preparing for a weekend in the Bay Area against No. 14 California on Friday and No. 4 Stanford Saturday. And at practice on Tuesday, they had their own study session around the flat screen in Pardee Gymnasium.

Analyzing game tape of Cal’s attack combinations, sophomore middle blocker Amanda Gil was sitting front-and-center, studying the Bears’ offense. For Gil, the team’s focus is clear.

“We’re coming in the practice gym getting ready to go,” she said. “Everyone has their minds set on trying to win a National Championship this year, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

With a 6-3 mark in the conference, one win out of the top spot, the Bruins are in a good position for a high seeding in the NCAA tournament, standing at No. 13 in Monday’s NCAA-released rating percentage index, one of the main factors in tournament seeding.

Coach Andy Banachowski said after Saturday’s sweep of Oregon State that their recent winning streak has been vital in building confidence and establishing momentum in the second half of the season.

“I think that we proved to ourselves that we can play with every one of the teams in the Pac-10,” he said.

In their three losses of the season, the Bruins were able to take a set off of Stanford and Washington, while being swept in a shocker at Arizona State. With nine conference matches behind them, the women’s volleyball team, Banachowski said, is building confidence.

“I think we will play with a lot more confidence in the second half of the season, having accomplished what we did in the first half of the conference race,” he said. “But we need to continue to work hard and get better.”

Redshirt senior Kaitlin Sather has also seen the Bruins’ newfound confidence.

“After we beat Oregon and Oregon State, we were excited in the locker room, but it was more like a calm, like, we knew we should win,” she said. “I think it was the first time that we expected ourselves to win.”

Madness in the Pac-10

This weekend, Washington State stunned first-place Washington Friday night in Pullman.

With additional Pac-10 upsets occurring earlier in the season including Oregon State over Oregon, Stanford at Washington, and Arizona State sweeping UCLA, the conference is wide open.

“I don’t think there is order anymore,” Gil said of the upsets in the conference. “It’s crazy. Anybody can get (the conference title) this year.”

With the Pac-10 known as one of the most competitive conferences in NCAA women’s volleyball, a high finish in the conference standings will mean several wins against ranked opponents and a favorable seeding in the NCAA tournament.

Banachowski added that the parity in the conference forces his team to be on its toes every game.

“Everybody is vulnerable, and you really have to bring your best game every night,” he said.

“I don’t think you can get through and get a win with a sub-par performance like maybe you could in years past.”

With reports from Eli Smukler, Bruin Sports senior staff.

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