Early season losses. Disappointments against top-flight
teams.
These have characterized the UCLA women’s volleyball team
of late.
But coming off an encouraging victory against Washington State,
No. 10 UCLA does have a chance to get back into the Pac-10 title
race as it heads to No. 17 Arizona for a tough road match
today.
UCLA (8-3, 1-1 Pac-10), loser of its last five matches against
the Wildcats (8-4, 0-2), needs to show it can play with the best of
the competition after already losing its two matches against top-10
competitors this year.
“In the past we have put a lot of pressure on ourselves to
match up against Arizona,” coach Andy Banachowski said.
“But if we take a calmer approach and play our game, we
should be fine.”
UCLA’s top two hitters, Brittany Ringel and Brynn Murphy,
have not fared well against Arizona in the past, combining for a
.164 hitting percentage against the Wildcats in two matches last
year.
“We have had trouble with our attack against them,”
Banachowski said.
“But if we play a ball control game, we should be able to
improve our offense.”
Meanwhile, Arizona’s top two leading hitters, Jennifer
Abernathy and Kim Glass, have played at the height of their game
against the Bruins.
The duo averaged 36 kills in two games last year versus UCLA,
accounting for the majority of the Wildcats’ offense.
“Our biggest problem last year was stopping their two best
hitters,” sophomore outside hitter Becky Green said.
“We had no answer for them.”
Still, despite their victories over the Bruins, the Wildcats
have not had success early this season.
After losing their first two conference games against California
and Stanford and suffering an early season setback against the San
Diego, the Wildcats will be looking to rebound against the
Bruins.
“We definitely cannot underestimate them this time
around,” sophomore hitter Colby Lyman said.
“We need to play them as hard as we can.”
Leading the defense against Arizona will be middle blocker Nana
Meriwether and libero Chrissie Zartman, both of whom have anchored
UCLA’s defense so far this season.
Meriwether has averaged 1.78 blocks per game on the season and
will be looked at to alter the Wildcat’s shots from the
outside.
Zartman, meanwhile, has 251 digs on the season and has been
passing every ball in sight.
Lyman and Green have been getting more opportunities lately and
will also likely play an important role in the match on Friday.
After tonight’s game, the Bruins will travel to Arizona
State, where they have dominated the Sun Devils in the past,
holding a 50-6 all-time edge.
“I feel really good going into the weekend,”
Banachowski said. “We look very strong offensively and we are
coming off a well-played match against Washington State.”