Before Friday night, not one player could remember beating USC.
But that nightmare is over. Now the Bruins have a new memory they
can fondly look back on. The No. 4 UCLA women’s volleyball
team (21-1, 8-1 Pac-10) finally put an end to its 11-match losing
streak against its crosstown rival on Friday. It ended years of
frustration and disappointment, with the last Bruin win coming home
nearly six years ago on Nov. 3, 2000. And no one was more excited
about the victory than the three senior starters. “Under
winning a national championship, this is my number-two goal for the
season,” outside hitter Katie Carter said. “This just
feels so good, to finally walk out of that gym with a win.”
It was only icing on the cake that the Bruins were able to get
their first win against USC on the Trojans’ final match in
the Lyon Center. Their remaining home matches will be played across
campus in the Galen Center, which can seat up to 10,258 spectators.
“It feels awesome, especially to beat them in their home
gym,” opposite Colby Lyman said. “We haven’t
beaten them at all the three and a half years that I’ve been
here. It feels really good to play the way that we did. It was
awesome.” In the past five years, the Trojans have dominated
the UCLA-USC rivalry and even the country in 2002 and 2003, during
which USC won the NCAA Championships. But for the first time in
many years,, the Bruins have their first legitimate chance at a
championship run, and they displayed that improvement by defeating
the annual powerhouse in their crosstown counterparts. “It
was great to win here tonight,” middle blocker Nana
Meriwether said. “We haven’t won since we’ve been
here ““ my senior class. So it was a great win to beat them in
their home.” In addition to the obvious bonus of beating
their rivals, the members of the women’s volleyball team also
look at this victory as a momentum builder and confidence booster
for the remainder of the season. “Other than that, we
haven’t beaten them in 11 matches; it just feels really good
to finally be able to contribute to the Gauntlet,” Carter
said. UCLA will receive five points toward the Lexus Gauntlet from
Friday’s win. “And it just feels really good that we
bounced back from Stanford. That shows a lot of integrity and a lot
of hard work. I think that is such a good thing for us, especially
going into Washington next week. It gives us a lot of
confidence.”
PAC-10 HONORS: For the second time this season,
senior Nana Meriwether garnered individual honors as the Pac-10
Player of the Week, announced Monday. Leading the Bruins with 19
kills at a .486 clip and 10 blocks against USC, Meriwether was the
go-to player Friday. She also was named Pac-10 Player of the Week
on Sept. 5. “We keep talking about how we don’t want to
ride Nana; we don’t want to be a one-horse team,” coach
Andy Banachowski said. “I don’t mind riding her as much
as we can, but we have to have balance.”
AROUND THE PAC-10: Both Stanford and Washington
swept their competition this weekend. This puts the Cardinal in
first place in the Pac-10 standings with an 8-1 conference record.
Washington, who lost to both UCLA and USC earlier this season, is
in fourth with a 7-2 record.
NATIONAL RANKINGS: After knocking down No. 5
USC on Friday, the Bruins, as well as the Trojans, remained in the
same positions in the AVCA Coaches Poll released Monday. All of the
top-seven teams received the same ranking as last week, with
Nebraska State University and Penn State University still
undefeated.