In the final road trip of the Pac-10 season, the UCLA women’s volleyball team will head north to face the Oregon schools this weekend.
The No. 7 Bruins, looking to rebound from a disappointing sweep at the hands of Washington, face Oregon State tonight and No. 18 Oregon Saturday night.
With a week of practice behind them, the Bruins (20-7, 10-4 Pac-10) will head to the Beaver State with a recharged lineup having learned from their loss to the Huskies.
“It just causes us to reflect,” said redshirt senior opposite Kaitlin Sather of their sweep. “We have so much potential and need to make sure we realize that.”
Despite having swept Oregon State (12-14, 3-11) in their first meeting this season, coach Andy Banachowski said the Bruins are preparing for the Beavers’ powerful yet one-dimensional attack.
“Oregon State has one player that they rely on pretty heavily in Rachel Rourke,” Banachowski said.
The Beavers’ senior outside hitter is fifth in the country in kills per set, 4.84, and points per set, 5.45. The last time the Bruins faced Oregon State, UCLA’s defense held Rourke, the 6-foot-5 Queensland, Australia native, to a .083 hitting average with just 11 kills and seven attack errors.
With a more balanced attack and one of the most powerful offenses in the conference, Oregon represents a greater challenge for the Bruins.
Oregon is second in the conference in hitting percentage, .271, kills per set, 14.46, and service aces per set, 1.61, and it has senior outside hitter Sonja Newcombe anchoring the offense.
“I think they’re a little bit more balanced with their attack,” Banachowski said. “We’re focusing on being able to play good defense and this week working a little bit more on our own side-out situation and trying to get better and being able to side-out ourselves.”
For Sather, this weekend represents the final Pac-10 road trip of her career. Sather, the only senior in the Bruins’ starting lineup, said she is excited for her final road trip but remains focused on the future.
“Pac-10s are coming to a close and we’re start to look forward to what’s ahead of them,” said Sather referring to the NCAA Tournament which starts in two weeks.
The Bruins, currently third in the conference, are no longer in control of their Pac-10 championship hopes but are looking to gain a match on Stanford and Washington, who are currently tied for first in the conference.
“We want to be able to continue to get better and play our best ball as we finish out the Pac-10 season,” Banachowski said.