The UCLA football team isn’t the only Bruin squad playing
underdog to the Trojans this week.
As dominant as USC has been on the gridiron for the past two
seasons, its accomplishments on the volleyball court may be even
more impressive. USC is currently riding a 39-match win streak, and
over the course of that span, the Trojans have swept their opponent
33 times, losing a combined total of merely seven games. The last
team to beat USC was Stanford, back on Nov. 2, 2002. The
Trojans have won 59 of their past 60 matches.
The No. 8 Bruins (21-6, 12-5 Pac-10) will travel to the Lyon
Center ““ perhaps more appropriately, the lion’s den
““ to face No. 1 USC (26-0, 17-0) tonight. Clearly,
the odds against UCLA are simply staggering. But of
course, the numbers beg the question: can USC be beaten?
“I think it can be done,” junior Brittany Ringel
said. “When we’re playing over there we need to go
out with nothing to lose. If we play scared for even a
couple of points, they will dominate us and kill
us.”Â
If the Bruins are indeed going to pull off what could be the
biggest upset in recent volleyball history, then they will
undoubtedly have to play their finest game of the season. It would
help, too, if USC were to take UCLA for granted. But given the
intense rivalry already existing between the two schools, there
isn’t much chance of that. Still, the Bruins are not
admitting that any intimidation exists.
“We can beat USC by being mentally prepared,” junior
Krystal McFarland said. “If we bring our top game we can go
out and beat them.”
The Trojans present an indisputably formidable team,
with powerful attackers, solid defense and excellent serving,
especially in the explosive arms of April Ross and Emily
Adams.
“We can’t let (Ross and Adams) go off on us,”
coach Andy Banachowski said. “Otherwise they’ll go on
point runs and put the game out of reach.”
This team is virtually identical to the squad that won the
national championship last year, only a year older, wiser and more
experienced. Yet the motivation to knock USC off its pedestal is
tremendous indeed. The bitter rivalry is only enhanced by the fact
that the Trojans have been so dominant for so long.
And perhaps there is some hope for UCLA; after all, they were
the first team this season to take a single game off USC.
“The thing they’ve done so well has been balancing
their attack,” Banachowski said. “You can try to take
one weapon away from them, and they’ve still got two others.
Their blockers have such good size that we need to be able to
pass well within our system and be smart attackers.
“They’re playing good smart volleyball and
we’ve got to do some of the same.”