After Thursday’s practice, an excited Amanda Gil exuded a relentless optimism despite the team’s recent slump.
Gil, a sophomore middle blocker, said the women’s volleyball team has been working on “staying positive with one another, encouraging each other, believing in yourself, knowing that you can do it and just really building up your confidence.”
After two straight weeks of reeling losses to unranked teams, the No. 16 Bruins (11-4, 1-1 Pac-10) need all the motivation they can get heading into a weekend of hosting No. 11 Stanford (7-4, 0-1) and No. 9 California (8-3, 1-0).
With last week’s sweep at the hands of Arizona State still fresh in her mind, Gil cannot wait to play in Pauley Pavilion.
“It’s going to be great,” she said. “A lot of people are coming, and we’re excited to have our fans here and have the crowd on our side this time.”
Tonight’s match marks the first women’s volleyball game in the storied arena since UCLA defeated Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament exactly 300 days ago on Dec. 6, 2008.
Just days after the Bruins’ Arizona State loss, junior outside hitter Dicey McGraw said they were totally out of their slump and that this past week in practice the team worked on preparing for the Stanford defense.
Coach Andy Banachowski explained that the Bruins are still trying to find themselves and establish their best possible lineup and play with a swagger.
“We thought we had (confidence) for a while in the preseason, and then we lost it,” Banachowski said. “Hopefully we gained it and we play with a lot of confidence now that we’re at home.”
Last season, the Bruins lost all of their matches against both the Cardinal and Bears.
In fact, Stanford has beaten UCLA in their last 17 meetings. UCLA’s last victory in the series came in 2000, when Gil and McGraw were still in elementary school.
Despite the odds, Banachowski feels that facing two highly ranked opponents is no problem for the Bruins.
“We know we have tough competition and that’s what we need to play against to find out what we can and cannot do,” he said. “We are going to be a really good team, we’ve got a lot of talented players and a lot of depth, more so than we have had in the past.”
“I actually feel really prepared as of now,” McGraw said. “I feel really confident against Stanford. We’ve been playing really well in practice all week.”
As for the Bruins’ decline in the rankings, McGraw added, “We can only go up from here.”
For Gil, who is currently second on the team in kills per set, 2.28, and hitting percentage, .391, there is more to tonight’s match than being the team’s season opener.
Gil, a San Jose native, said she is excited to face Stanford, a team with many familiar faces.
Stanford assistant coach Jason Mansfield was Gil’s club volleyball coach during her high school years. Gil added she has many former club teammates who currently play for Stanford.
“That’s like my hometown I’m playing,” she said. “I just want to beat them.”
Breast cancer awareness week returns
Aside from opening its 2009 home season, the UCLA women’s volleyball team will also be spreading awareness of breast cancer.
The team will wear pink and white jerseys and play with pink volleyballs, all of which will be auctioned to raise funds for Revlon/UCLA Breast Center.
Fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of breast cancer awareness. Pink T-shirts will also be available for purchase.
Freshman setter Lauren Cook will also be honored with the Andi Collins Award, a recognition for the best high-school setter of the previous year.
The award, given each year by Prep Vollyball magazine, is named after Andi Collins who died of breast cancer at age 16 on Sept. 4, 2003.
Banachowski added that the Collins family will be present for the award ceremony during Friday’s intermission.
Cook follows the footsteps of another former Andi Collins Award winner, former Bruin setter Nellie Spicer.