It was the starters who put UCLA into position to beat
California. But it took seldom-used reserve Nancy Barba to finish
the Golden Bears off, giving the UCLA women’s volleyball team
a 3-1 (30-26, 30-20, 25-30, 30-22) win Friday night at Pauley
Pavilion. With game four tied 18-18 after Cal had reeled off 10 of
the last 11 points, UCLA coach Andy Banachowski turned to Barba for
a spark. By the time she left the game, the sophomore middle
blocker had recorded three kills and three blocks, helping the No.
8 Bruins (21-6, 12-5 Pac-10) amass a commanding 26-20 lead.
“I tried to fire the team up,” Barba said. Cal, which
has lost all 44 of its matches against the Bruins, seemed to be on
the verge of finally ending its dubious streak. The No. 9 Bears
(20-5, 11-5) had all of the momentum after storming back from a
nine-point deficit to tie the score at 18. The Bears’ top
hitters, Mia Jerkov and Camille Leffall, were returning to
All-American form, and UCLA’s top hitters were making errors.
Banachowski called two timeouts during Cal’s run before
finally inserting Barba and sophomore Haley Jorgensborg into the
game. “I wanted to use a different look, and go from a
two-hitter to a three-hitter formation,” Banachowski said.
The substitution proved to be effective. Barba revitalized the
Bruins’ stagnant attack and led the team to a crucial
victory. With only No. 1 USC and No. 4 Pepperdine left on the
schedule, both on the road, the Bruins (21-6, 12-5 Pac-10) were
facing the realistic prospect of losing their last four games
before the NCAA tournament had they lost to Cal. The win also
guarantees UCLA at least third place in the Pac-10 and solidifies
its chance of hosting its first two tournament matches.
“It’s a big win,” Banachowski said. “It
gets (Thursday night’s loss to Stanford) out of our minds and
we can feel a whole lot better about our team.” The Bruins
seemed to have gotten the Stanford loss out of their minds in time
for Friday’s match, or if it didn’t, it helped them get
out to an early lead. Juniors Brittany Ringel and Heather Cullen
rebounded from their subpar performances Thursday night, compiling
15 and 13 kills, respectively. Junior Brynn Murphy led the Bruins
with 21 kills as the squad appeared dominating at times in the
first two games. UCLA limited Jerkov, a National Player of the Year
candidate, to 14 kills on a .130 hitting percentage, and Leffall to
eight kills. “We knew we had to take away the angles from
their big hitters,” senior Cira Wright said. Cal’s 12-7
run to close game three extended the match, and paved the way for
Barba’s heroics. “The problems we had were
mental,” Wright said. “It wasn’t anything we were
doing physically. We just had to focus mentally.”
RAY RETURNS: Friday marked the return of senior Natalie Ray to
lineup. For two points at least, and that was enough for her. Ray
was forced to have season-ending surgery back on Oct. 13 to remove
the top rib on her right side because she had blood clots on her
right shoulder. She still couldn’t play, but because it was
senior day, Banachowski wanted her to have her name announced as a
starter at Pauley one last time, and to get the opportunity to
serve once. Cal won the coin toss, and elected to serve first. Ray
stood slightly off to the side of the court as the Bruins were
outnumbered 6-to-5 for the first point of the match. The Bruins won
the point, and Ray went back to serve. She hit a solid serve across
the net, but the Bruins lost the point. Ray was then taken out of
the match and ended her career as a Bruin. “Being able to
start meant a lot to me,” Ray said. “I’ve been
here for four years and this team has given me a lot of
support.” Ray stayed on the sidelines for the rest of the
match and watched the Bruins defeat Cal. “It’s sad that
I got injured, but it was good to go out on a game like
that,” Ray said. Banachowski has let an injured player start
before on senior day. Just last year, Lauren Hogan was in the same
exact situation, also started and served once. “I respect him
more for that,” Barba said. Wright was also honored during
the senior day ceremony, along with team managers Beth Su and
Jennifer Otani.