Halfway through the conference season, the UCLA women’s volleyball team is glad for second chances.
Although the Bruins are the No. 9 team in the country, they are just tied for fifth in the Pac-10 standings heading into the next round of matches against each of their conference foes.
Tonight in Pauley Pavilion, UCLA (14-6, 4-5 Pac-10) will take on Oregon State (14-8, 3-6), a team that UCLA only narrowly defeated in a five-set matchup in Corvallis, Ore. Then Saturday, the Bruins will get a second crack at No. 7 Oregon (17-4, 6-3), which has won seven of its last eight matches, including a four-set victory against UCLA.
In the four weeks since the Bruins last saw these teams, UCLA believes it has increased its competitiveness. Coming off tough home losses to No. 4 California and No. 5 Stanford, the Bruins are trying to use the weekend’s increased intensity to their advantage.
“It’s always tough to have a loss like that, especially to such good teams, but compared to where we were last week, this weekend really helped us grow as a team,” freshman outside hitter Sara Sage said. “I think it really helped us to mature to another level; we’re at a whole new level than we were last week.”
With the opportunity to face each Pac-10 team twice, the Bruins hope that their rate of improvement will best any upgrades made by the rest of the conference, forcing more game-plan changes on their opponents.
“I think that we’ve changed our look maybe more than the Oregon teams have changed their look, so I think they’ll be a little more similar, maybe a little more familiar for us, hopefully not as effective against us as they were last time,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “I think teams, and these teams specifically, may have a tougher time preparing for us this time than we do for them.”
UCLA’s advantage in this case comes from the talented set of freshmen they are already utilizing to the fullest extent.
“I think the fact that we are playing three freshmen out on the court gives us a lot of room for growth if they continue to improve themselves and work hard, and they’ve being doing that,” Banachowski said.
One aspect of their game that the Bruins have been working on is blocking, which will come up big against the Beavers and the Ducks because both possess strong offensive attacks. Oregon State outside hitters junior Rachel Rourke and sophomore Jill Sawatzky are both in the top 10 in the conference in kills per set. Oregon, which has a bit more of a balanced front line, still boasts the third best hitter in that category in senior outside hitter Gorana Maricic.
“I think we feel more comfortable with what we’re doing blocking out there, so I think that’ll help us a lot against big teams,” Banachowski said. “Hopefully, we can play the same kind of backcourt defense that we’ve been and be more effective with our block.”
If the Bruins can sweep this weekend’s games, it will give much-needed validation to their development. However, if they cannot come away with two wins in a row at their own arena, a feat they have yet to accomplish, then they will continue to struggle in the middle of the conference.
“We’ve got a ways to go to be at that upper echelon, but I think this team has the potential to be there by the end of the season,” Banachowski said.