The best programs are the ones that breed a culture of competition within the team. For the UCLA women’s volleyball program, every day is a competition between each other.
Redshirt sophomore Ryann Chandler had not played in a full three sets in the last four matches, but had an all-around effort to propel the Bruins to victory over the Cal Golden Bears on Sunday.
Coach Michael Sealy made the decision to switch setters from freshman Zana Muno to Chandler in an effort to find the right combination of players to wake the Bruins from their slumber that had followed them from last Wednesday’s game against the Trojans. She led the team with 36 assists, and added one ace to go along with five digs.
“There is an old adage in volleyball: If someone is playing bad you take them out. If the whole team is playing bad, you change the setter,” Sealy said. “There wasn’t anything Zana was doing or not doing, we just had a slow start everywhere. We put Ryann in to change the flow a little bit, and we were just lucky enough for it to work out.”
Chandler responded to the task at hand Sunday by producing a game-high 36 assists and helped raise the Bruins’ side-out percentage from 47 percent in the first set to 66 percent in the second set and finally 68 percent in the third set. Chandler’s performance on the court was a result of the hard work she put in off the court with Muno in the film room.
“(We) looked at the USC game and looked at the offensive choices we were making,” Chandler said. “After the match, Zana and I both looked at our isolations and did a good job of sending the hitters a certain way and then setting away from it. It definitely got our hitters one-on-one so they could hit high numbers.”
Chandler’s performance did not come as much of a surprise to sophomore outside hitter Reily Buechler who handled the transition in stride. She finished with 11 kills and hit .429 which showcases the effectiveness of hitters being placed in one-on-one situations.
Although Chandler helped spark the team Sunday, Buechler was also quick to remind that both setters are integral parts for future success.
“There isn’t much of a difference (between Chandler and Muno). Both setters are trying to feed the same ball regardless of who is in,” said Buechler. “So it is on us (outside hitters) to be on the right set at the right time because we run a pretty complex offense.”