If there is one phrase that college coaches try desperately to
steer clear of, it’s “rebuilding year.” It can
make a coach’s nose turn up, disgusted by the idea of a
season given away to growing pains as opposed to success.
For UCLA women’s volleyball, this was a phrase commonly
thrown around. But not by the coaches, and especially not by the
players.
The players have ignored predictions about them and have already
begun to prove critics wrong, winning six of their first seven
games.
The team underwent major reconstruction in the offseason after
the graduation of five seniors, including All-Americans Chrissie
Zartman and Krystal McFarland, and the departure of two other key
players.
Seven freshman took their place on a team that was pegged to
finish fifth in the Pac-10.
With only one senior on the team, the Bruins received their
lowest preseason ranking in the CSTV/AVCA Division I Coaches Top 25
Poll since 1998.
“A lot of people underestimate us,”said junior Nana
Meriwether. “We know we’re good enough to compete with
the top teams. This is not going to be just a rebuilding year for
this team. We can do some damage.”
With the loss of last season’s setter, libero and four of
the team’s top five hitters, this year’s outlook might
appear bleak if it weren’t for a strong freshman class that
has already shown itself to be capable of filling the vacant roster
spots.
“The entire freshman class is a very solid recruiting
class,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. “It is always
a matter of which players are going to exert their presence and
work hard in practice in order to move into a starting
role.”
Three of the team’s six starters, freshmen Kaitlin Sather,
Nellie Spicer and Jordan Smith, have established themselves as key
players on the revamped UCLA roster.
After the season’s first eight matches, Sather led the
Bruins in kills per game with 3.93, a significantly higher average
than any player from last year’s team. Meanwhile, Spicer has
set the team to a .231 attack percentage, comparable to the .221
clip McFarland piloted the Bruins to last season.
“Sather and Spicer have performed extremely well,”
Banachowski said. “I’m very pleased with what they have
done. I knew they were extremely talented players, and they are
living up to the expectations of what I saw in them.”
One of the biggest questions in the offseason regarded who would
replace the graduated libero Zartman, who last year set the Pac-10
career and single season records in digs.
The potential answer has come in Smith, who has stepped up to
lead the team in digs. However, the team does not yet have a
consistent starting libero, and Sather, Spicer and junior Colby
Lyman all provide vital digging support.
Another uncertainty about this season was whether the veteran
players would feel comfortable playing with the inexperienced
freshman, which make up almost half the team. The worry seems
baseless now, as all the players have become very close off the
court.
“We are all really good friends, which is a great
advantage because we help each other out more in games,”
Meriwether said. “Off the court we’re always together.
When the team is so close, it is easier to feel comfortable and
confident with the other girls on the court.”
Instead of being a difficulty for the Bruins to overcome, the
team’s youth can be seen as a benefit.
“We are working on a faster offense, and the team’s
youth helps us out because everyone is so open to change,”
Meriwether said.
Although the team is off to a better start than was expected of
them, there are still aspects of the game that UCLA must improve on
if it is going to be able to compete with the top teams in the
nation.
“We don’t have the consistency yet in our
performance level to stay on the floor with great
teams,”Banachowski said.”We’re making good
progress, and I know we’re going to be a good passing team,
but we still need to improve our blocking and backcourt
defense.”
As the team gains more experience by playing together, the
Bruins will prove that this is far more than a rebuilding season
for UCLA.
“It takes time for new players to feel comfortable and get
used to one another, but I am pleased with where we are at this
point,” Banachowski said. “We have great parts being
put together on this team.”