After a rocky 2013 campaign, the UCLA women’s volleyball team incorporated a new strategy to bring a much-needed breath of fresh air into its offseason training: reading.
At last season’s start, the team faced the loss of several key senior players. With many close losses and injuries throughout the rest of the season, the team failed to qualify for the NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 years, and finished with a 15-15 record – its first non-winning record in team history.
And though the team bid farewell to then-senior outside hitter Kelly Reeves, who ended the season with the second most kills, defeating Reeves’ alumni team 3-0 in straight sets at the alumni match in Pardee Gymnasium inside the John Wooden Center Saturday showed this season’s team has the potential to be, as Coach Michael Sealy called it, “a new team.”
“Not only is it new personnel with transfers and freshmen, but the returning players are new, in a sense that it’s a new mentality, new dedication, new commitment,” Sealy said.
The team adopted reading “Toughness” by ESPN college basketball analyst Jay Bilas as a new strategy to constantly practice their new team catchphrase, “tough, together and courageous.”
“Everything we do we want to make sure it’s in alignment with those three things and we’re moving forward as a team and individuals to be as great as we can be,” Sealy said.
Although the team will be heading into this season without Reeves, senior outside hitter Karsta Lowe believes new additions, including freshmen outside hitters Olga Strantzali of Greece and Reily Buechler, libero Taylor Schlener and four transfers, will have a positive affect on the “new team” mentality.
“I think everyone is really stepping their game up altogether,” Lowe said. “We have these new girls coming in and they’re stepping it up, and now everyone’s stepping it up.”
Buechler, who showed a promising start in her many points scored in the exhibition, recognizes that new practice strategies combined with a refocused goal is the fresh start the team needs, especially when dealing with the recent changes to its schedule.
Because the campus flood caused by a water main break damaged both the John Wooden Center and Pauley Pavilion floors, the Bruins are forced to face the USC Trojans first at the Galen Center on Sept. 23, despite the match being originally scheduled to take place at UCLA. The Bruins and Trojans will instead face off at Pauley on Nov. 28.
First, the Bruins must find local sites to host their opponents for their September and October matches. UCLA will play its season opener at Loyola Marymount University against Binghamton University on Aug. 29.
The Bruins’ season debut will be the first time they face the Bearcats, and they hope to look like a completely new team.
“Everyone’s on a different mentality and everyone’s having way more fun out there,” Buechler said. “I think that we’re going to play much better than we did last year.”