UCLA women’s volleyball snapped a five-year losing streak and swept eventual NCAA champion Stanford last season.
“Last year is last year, that has nothing to do with this year,” said coach Michael Sealy. “All their freshmen are now sophomores, they’re going to be improved as well so they’re very physical.”
No. 12 UCLA (11-4, 4-2 Pac-12), fresh off a 3-1 win against Arizona State, will face No. 3 Stanford (13-2, 6-0) on Friday and the unranked California (11-6, 2-4) on Saturday at home.
The Cardinal has since graduated middle blocker Inky Ajanaku, 2016’s NCAA Most Outstanding Player, who led the Pac-12 with 1.54 blocks per set and was second in the conference with a .407 hitting percentage.
“Obviously they don’t have (Ajanaku), which is a big threat in the middle,” said junior middle blocker Kyra Rogers. “But I think they’re still really good at everything, so we just gotta be really on our game to beat them.”
Despite the personnel loss, Stanford is the only team unbeaten in Pac-12 play so far this season.
Stanford’s outside hitter Kathryn Plummer, the AVCA 2016 Freshman of the Year, leads the Pac-12 with 4.76 kills per set and paces the league in points per set at 5.44.
However, Sealy said that there are enough good players in the Stanford lineup that they cannot focus on just one person. Plummer is one of the five returning starters from the Cardinal’s championship team.
“We’re aware of who their good players are,” Sealy said. “If we can stop her, we will, if we can’t, we stop the other four players.”
No. 2 Penn State (15-1) has been the only team to do that this season. The Nittany Lions beat the Cardinal 3-1 on Sept. 1, despite a career-high 27 kills from Plummer, and once again Sept. 9.
Senior setter Sarah Sponcil’s last game against Stanford was with her previous team, Loyola Marymount. The Lions upset and swept the Cardinal to enter the NCAA Sweet 16, matching Loyola Marymount’s furthest ever run into the NCAA Tournament.
“It was a great feeling, one of the best feelings I have had playing volleyball,” Sponcil said. “So yes, it’ll be fun on Friday.”
On the other hand, four other conference teams have swept California, UCLA’s opponent Saturday, in all of its away games.
The Bruins have won their last five matches against the Golden Bears including a sweep and a four-set win last season. Last season, UCLA hit .383 and had three players in double figures in kills in the four-set victory.
California’s standout player this season, outside hitter Antzela Dempi, only played three matches last season. Currently, she ranks second in the Pac-12 in aces with 0.48 per set while leading the team at 2.89 kills per set.
Golden Bears’ outside hitter Mima Mirkovic ranks 10th in the Pac-12 at 3.24 digs per set, making her the only nonlibero ranked in the conference’s top 10. Mirkovic put in a career-high 26-dig performance in Cal’s win over Arizona on Oct. 1.
Rogers believes that the key to winning these matches is to be aggressive from the start and to be able to shake off lost points.
“I think we just have to come out strong from the get-go … and know our assignments,” Rogers said. “They’re going to make good plays, we just have to move on and win every point.”