Everything went as expected last weekend as UCLA beat a team it
had never lost to in school history, and lost to a team it
hasn’t beaten since 2000.
The women’s volleyball team (10-6, 3-3 Pac-10) anticipated
a split and got exactly that in a fitting, albeit unspectacular,
trip to Northern California.
Saturday’s match against Stanford (13-2, 4-1) was
competitive, but the Bruins ultimately fell to the superior
opponent.
The Bruins were tied at one game apiece when the Cardinal began
to assert themselves. Tied at 21 in the third game, Stanford would
go on to win 30-25 and squelch any chance for an upset.
“I felt like we played our best offensively in game three,
but the problem is that Stanford did too,” UCLA head coach
Andy Banachowski said.
After losing the third game, Stanford rolled past a tired Bruin
squad 30-22 in the fourth game.
“We ran out of gas in game four and let everything slip
away from us,” Banachowski said. “Overall, I still
think we played well against them.”
The team’s defense acquitted itself very well against one
of the nation’s most potent offenses. Senior Angela Eckmier,
a middle blocker, saw many positives in the loss.
“We’re very happy with some of the things we
did,” Eckmier said. “We proved that we could play with
one of the best teams in the country.”
A day earlier, the team survived an early scare and eventually
took control of the match against UC Berkeley (11-2, 2-2).
Down 29-23 in the first game, the Bruins staged a ferocious
rally to win. Brynn Murphy served for seven straight points, an
almost unheard of total, to help with the comeback.
“Last year I hardly ever got the chance to serve,”
Murphy said. “This year it’s something that I’ve
really been working on.”
The Bruins dropped the second game 30-26 but took control of the
match by handily winning games three and four.
Cal has never beaten UCLA in the 22-year history of competition
between the two schools. The Bruins now own a 43-0 record against
the Bears.
That victory proved to be critical, since UCLA knew it had
little chance of upsetting Stanford in Maples Pavilion. If Cal had
managed to eke out a victory, UCLA’s Pac-10 season would
likely have fallen completely apart.
“We got the split on the road, which is what you need to
do,” Banachowski said. “We got better this weekend as a
team. Our performance (in Northern California) has got to help our
confidence.”
Now it is time to put that newfound confidence to the test. UCLA
will have a chance to pull above .500 for the first time this
season with home matches against Oregon and Oregon State.