If the UCLA women’s volleyball team’s conference was measured in potential, its record would not be 5-6. But as the players know, only official wins matter.
After a nearly perfect nonconference season, the No. 9 Bruins (15-7, 5-6 Pac-10) have not gotten the victories they were hoping for in the Pac-10. However, UCLA looks to pick up a pair of wins this weekend with a match against the conference bottom-feeder and then another shot at one of its highly ranked conference opponents.
Tonight, the Bruins will face Washington State (7-15, 0-11), which has yet to nab a win in the difficult Pac-10. Then, after one day of rest, UCLA will head to Seattle for a Sunday showdown with the No. 5 Washington Huskies (17-4, 8-3), who stole the thunder during Pauley Pavilion’s season opener last month by narrowly edging the Bruins 3-2.
Despite their sixth-place position in the Pac-10, four of the Bruins’ six losses have gone the full five sets and in the other two, UCLA still managed to grab a set from its opponents.
“The thing is that we fight so well during different parts of games, we just can’t finish,” sophomore outside hitter Dicey McGraw said. “So, I feel like that takes time also because we’re a very young team.”
The Bruins generally play at least three freshmen on the court for most of the match, with frontline players Amanda Gil, Katie Camp and Sara Sage as well as freshman defensive specialist Lainey Gera all seeing significant playing time. With so many newcomers, the team has been forced to improve quickly to keep pace in such a talented league.
“We are a completely 100 percent different team than when we started,” Sage said. “We’re so much better of a team now, so I feel like if we could start it over, our record would be completely different. But we can’t do that, so we just have to change how it is now and just pick up what we can.”
On Saturday, UCLA lost another incredibly tight match to the eighth-ranked Oregon Ducks, despite outscoring them during the course of the night 111-106. It is games like these that the Bruins hope they could pull out at least every once in awhile, but they have yet to beat a single one of the other five teams in the conference that are ranked in the top 25. Even with the setbacks to the team’s initial expectations, the Bruins are far from giving up on a season that can still be salvaged by some big wins.
“We are so ready,” senior libero Jessica Fine said.
Fine and the two other senior starters, setter Nellie Spicer and outside hitter Ali Daley, are tired of waiting for that satisfying victory.
“The other day, we just looked at each other and we’re like, “˜We’re winning on Sunday. Let’s just do it. It’s about time. It’s our turn,'” Fine said.
“I definitely think it’s our turn. All those matches were heartbreakers, and they absolutely could have gone either way. We just got unlucky, and like I said, it’s our chance.”
The Huskies will not be easy to beat, however, having won six of their last seven matches, including an upset victory against No. 6 California. But if the Bruins’ desire comes into play, then it promises to be at least another close battle.
“We’re pretty hungry,” Sage said. “We’re ready for Thanksgiving dinner. We’re tired of losing those big-game matches, so we’ve got to turn it around and put it in our favor from now on.”
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