The women’s volleyball team has boasted an impressive offense all season long. But recently, the UCLA attack has taken on a mythological quality.
The Bruins’ leading duo of outside hitters, junior Jordan Anderson and sophomore Reily Buechler, has been tested in the past couple of weeks, with Anderson struggling some nights and Buechler recently sitting out with an injury.
But, just like the Hydra of ancient Greek lore, when the team’s two-headed offense has lost one of its heads, another has grown back.
That third “head” has come in the form of redshirt sophomore Jessyka Ngauamo, who has posted double-digit kills in each of the past three games.
Against Washington on Nov. 1, Anderson had an off night, failing to record a single kill. Ngauamo filled in, notching 12 kills, second only to Buechler’s 17.
Then when Buechler went down, Ngauamo once again picked up the slack, leading the team in kills against Colorado with 19. And most recently in Friday’s match versus Utah, with Buechler still absent, Ngauamo put up a respectable 12 kills.
Ngauamo’s performance on Friday, while solid, was not as flashy as the flattening of Colorado. The redshirt sophomore occasionally ran into some staunch blocking on the side of Utah and had spurts of trouble.
But opposite Ngauamo, Anderson was able to post a team-leading 25 kills.
“It’s great to play with (Ngauamo), to play across from her,” Anderson said. “Jess is great. She keeps me grounded, and she keeps me positive.”
Even with Buechler out, coach Michael Sealy kept the offensive game plan focused on his outside hitters.
“A couple of (Utah’s) blockers were weaker on the right side,” Sealy said. “So we wanted to set a lot of balls to them and they got in a lot of good swings.”
During Ngauamo’s flurry of new playing time, ups and downs are expected – she made seven hitting errors against Utah. But her teammates have helped ease the transition into a larger role.
“I attribute it to the team supporting me,” Ngauamo said. “They always said, ‘Head up Jess, we got you on the next one.’ I’m lucky to have a group of girls who will support me like that.”
In the face of the recent adversity, Sealy said the team’s supportive atmosphere helps.
“It’s a long process – they know each other well and they’ve played together for awhile,” Sealy said. “We’re just trying to teach together. If we can just stick together no matter what, get in some adverse situations and just somehow stick together through it, the win and loss doesn’t really matter if you can just stay together.”