Last time UCLA women’s volleyball played Stanford, the Cardinal didn’t have Pac-12’s best blocker – Inky Ajanaku – and the Bruins won in four sets.
“People say that we got off easy beating Stanford last time, and I want to prove they we can give them a run for their money with Inky back,” said senior outside hitter Jordan Anderson. “She’s a great player. I’m excited to be able to play their full team.”
No. 13 UCLA (19-5, 10-4 Pac-12) will travel to Northern California to try to take the season series from both unranked California (9-15, 3-11) Thursday and No. 9 Stanford (16-6, 10-4) Saturday.
“I think Stanford is probably the best team in the conference right now,” said UCLA coach Michael Sealy. “Last time is last time. We gotta kind of let that go and move on.”
Ajanaku sustained a pregame injury and sat out the UCLA match, but returned in Stanford’s next game against USC, a 3-0 Cardinal victory.
Ajanaku leads the Pac-12 with 1.59 blocks per set and ranks fourth with a .382 hitting percentage. The Cardinal have not lost since Ajanaku’s return, rattling off five straight wins. The Cal Bears, on the other hand, have lost seven of their past 10 games.
This weekend’s trip to the Bay Area comes after a 1-1 weekend in Arizona with the Bruins losing in straight sets to Arizona and then coming back to sweep Arizona State the next day.
Sealy moved junior Reily Buechler into sophomore Zana Muno’s opposite spot after the game against Arizona. Buechler led the Bruins in kills swinging from the right side.
“I think Reily probably upgrades the offensive ability on that spot,” Sealy said. “So we’re going with that.”
Keeping Buechler on the right side allows Muno to move into a more defensive role. Sealy said that Muno was more important to the team on defense for her ability to pick up free balls and pass well.
“I kind of just need to be ready to go wherever they want me to go,” Muno said. “I think that’s kind of been my role this whole year, and I just have to be flexible and be able to do whatever they need me to do.”
Stanford is currently locked in a four-way tie for first place in the Pac-12 with UCLA, No. 11 Washington and No. 16 Oregon.
The Cardinal lead the nation in blocks per set at 3.35, and they’ll have their best blocker back in action against the Bruins on Saturday.
“We’re not worried that one player will change the result of the game,” Muno said. “We’re really confident. We just want to be able to beat a good team with their best player.”