Washington, UCLA and Stanford came into the preseason with top-10 rankings and Pac-12 title aspirations.
Fast forward to week seven. The Bruins and Cardinal have slipped out of the top 10, and previously unranked Oregon and Washington State top the Pac-12 rankings.
No. 20 UCLA (12-4, 3-3 Pac-12) will travel to face No. 16 Oregon (12-3, 5-1) on Wednesday.
The Bruins have alternated wins and losses throughout the first six matches of conference play and are looking to rebound from Sunday’s five-set loss to Arizona.
“The first two sets were just poetry in motion – everyone hit their assignment and there was a level of engagement that we haven’t had yet this year, so it’s really rewarding,” said coach Michael Sealy. “And then the second half of that play, upon just watching the video, some strings got loose.”
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Sealy said that in the final three games the team struggled with finishing plays and staying engaged. Because these problems are more technical than tactical, he said he believes they will be easier to fix.
The Bruins will have to discuss and make these changes quickly, as this week’s first game comes after a rapid turnaround. After a rest day on Monday, the team travelled Tuesday to play and never had a chance to hold a full practice.
“It’s like the NFL almost, where you’ve gotta get through the weekend and then you get a couple days to practice,” Sealy said. “It’s not that much time but luckily, the things that we struggle with are very individual.”
The Ducks will be facing the Bruins after their toughest week yet in Pac-12 play. On Friday, No. 7 Washington handed Oregon its first conference loss of the season, but the Ducks were able to bounce back and take down No. 13 Washington State on Sunday in straight sets.
Oregon currently boasts a .306 team hitting percentage, the fourth best in the country, led by freshman middle blocker Ronika Stone who is hitting .420. The Ducks aren’t only an offensive force, however, as senior libero Amanda Benson leads the Pac-12 will 5.02 digs per set.
“They’ve always had the most intricate system, they’re always the hardest team to defend,” Sealy said. “They’re extremely disciplined, so for me, they’re probably the frontrunner coming in. So yeah, it’s a daunting task for us.”
Approaching the game with the mindset of being the underdog has been a specific focus of Sealy’s in the past week. Sealy said that he wants the team to stop going into each game as though they are the best team and have something to lose. While the Bruins were not the underdogs in either of last week’s matches, they will be against Oregon.
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Its a long season and the team still has time to perfect both its mentality and its play.
“I feel like the potential we have is huge, and the goal is playing great in December. There’s plenty of time,” Sealy said. “So we do want to play with a sense of urgency and keep fine-tuning and getting better, but there’s plenty of time to make those improvements.”
Contributing reports from Melissa Zhang, Daily Bruin contributor.