Making the NCAA Tournament usually isn’t even an issue for
the UCLA women’s volleyball team.
The 1996 season was the only season in the team’s history
in which they hadn’t qualified for the 64-team tournament,
and the Bruins have made it to at least the second round in every
season since 1996.
But as the No. 21 Bruins (11-8, 4-6 Pac-10) travel north to face
Oregon State (8-9, 4-7) tonight and Oregon (11-11, 1-10) on Friday,
they realize that a lapse against either team could put their
postseason status in doubt.
“If we come out with losses this week, we probably
won’t make the postseason,” senior middle blocker Nancy
Barba said. “That’s just another big drive for us to
win.”
The 64-team NCAA postseason field includes 31 teams who receive
automatic bids by winning their conference titles and an additional
33 at-large berths. When UCLA was left out in 1996, it had a 17-14
record and finished sixth in the Pac-10. This year, the Bruins are
also currently three games over .500 and are sixth place in the
Pac-10.
“We’re too young to be in a frame of mind that we
can take anyone lightly,” said coach Andy Banachowski, who
has a chance to pick up his 996th and 997th career wins in this
week’s match-ups. “Because we are young, we may think
that we can, but we will have to scratch for all our wins in order
to look good for the NCAA committee. We can’t let down at
all.”
If there is a source of comfort for the Bruins, it is the way
they thoroughly dominated both the Beavers and the Ducks when the
two schools came to Pauley Pavilion last month.
The Bruins swept Oregon 3-0 (30-15, 30-23, 30-24) hitting .286
while limiting the Ducks to a .009 hitting percentage.
Their performance against Oregon State was even more impressive.
The Bruins beat the Beavers 3-0 (30-24, 30-6, 30-13). The Bruins
hit a lofty .358 in that match and once again limited their
opponents to a .009 hitting percentage.
During their first series against the Oregon schools, the Bruins
had 21 service aces compared to just 10 service errors.
“We served very well that weekend, especially against
Oregon State,” Banachowski said. “We want to keep up
our serving, improve our blocking and find a way to shore up our
recent weaknesses.”
The Bruins are coming off of a tough 3-1 loss (37-35, 26-30,
22-30, 30-32) to conference rival USC last Friday. Rather than harp
on the loss though, the Bruins were encouraged by their improved
performance compared to the first time they played the Trojans this
season.
“There’s a sense of disappointment, but
there’s also a sense of accomplishment because we did play
better,” Banachowski said. “We’re trying to keep
our spirit up and realize that even though it hurts, we are
continuing to get better.”
Junior middle blocker Nana Meriwether agrees with
Banachowski.
“Losses motivate us even more to win,” Meriwether
said. “We’re young and we’re growing, and I feel
like we have a lot better chance of beating ranked opponents at
this point in the season.”