In its first match this month, the then-No. 20 UCLA women’s volleyball team traveled to Seattle, where it suffered a loss against undefeated then-No. 4 Washington. After fighting hard for two set victories, exhaustion set in, and the Bruins faltered in the third, dropping their final three sets.
Now, in their last match of the month, the Bruins will once again be facing off against Washington.
This time, however, is nothing like the last.
Since their last meeting, both teams have slowly climbed the ranks. However, the Bruins (15-6, 6-4 Pac-12), now ranked 16th, won’t be playing the fourth-ranked team – they will be playing the No. 2 team in the country.
“I think it’s going to be a really tough match,” said freshman outside hitter Reily Buechler. Last week, both Buechler and her teammate, senior outside hitter Karsta Lowe, earned Pac-12 weekly awards for Freshman of the Week and Offensive Player of the Week respectively. “I think we are starting to get better, and they’re obviously the No. 2 team in the country, so I think that it’s going to be some good volleyball.”
It seems experience and time could be enough to transform the Bruins into the team that can finally conquer the still-undefeated Huskies. Since their last meeting, the Bruins have played two more five-set matches and won both. And it seems this upcoming match is likely to be another long and rigorous five sets, and the Bruins are preparing for that possibility.
“We’re hydrating all week,” said senior setter Julie Consani, who is currently the leading setter in the nation. “It’s the preparation that you do before the match that helps.”
The Bruins have also finally moved home and will be playing this match in the John Wooden Center, surrounded by their own fans and student body.
“It’s going to be more natural,” Buechler said. “We don’t have to worry about driving and the bus and all that stuff. We can focus on playing volleyball here at home. It’s comfortable, it’s easy.”
Now, after almost a full month of preparation, the Bruins said they’re finally ready to host – and defeat – a national contender.
“We have a lot of new people, so at the beginning, it was just kind of molding together as one team,” said senior middle blocker Zoë Nightingale. “I think we’ve done that, so we’re moving on to different things to work on. Where that was our beginning focus, now we’re united and can focus on other things.”
After hosting Washington, the Bruins have a day to rest before hosting Washington State, also at the John Wooden Center.