After meeting the best and the worst of the Pac-10 conference this weekend, the women’s volleyball team became acquainted with both sides of the broom, getting swept by No. 4 Washington (19-1, 8-1 Pac-10) 20-30, 27-30, 30-26, on Thursday, and sweeping Washington State (9-14, 0-9) 33-31, 30-18, 30-23, on Friday.
Having split the weekend, the seventh-ranked Bruins (16-4, 6-3) reach midseason mostly content with their performance on the road, despite a disappointing turnout against the Huskies.
“They say you should be happy splitting on the road, and we did that,” coach Andy Banachowski said.
UCLA ran into a road block in Seattle in the form of Pac-10 Player of the Week Christal Morrison. The senior All-American outside hitter kept the Huskies atop the conference for yet another week, leading the team with 13 kills.
“She definitely played up to her stature,” Banachowski said. “Washington played well. They’re very steady. Their entire team was good.”
The Huskies, who average a Pac-10-leading .314 hitting percentage, managed to outplay the Bruins at the net, holding UCLA to a .146 clip while maintaining a .315 average themselves. In one of their worst offensive outings thus far, the Bruins dug themselves into a hole with self-inflicted errors. With nine service errors and inconsistent hitting, UCLA found the Huskies to be a much tougher opponent than was actually at hand. Washington didn’t make matters any easier by out-blocking the Bruins 11.5-4.5.
But on Friday against unranked Washington State, the Bruins were back in business with a steadier offense.
Tweaking the lineup slightly, Banachowski moved junior Kaitlin Sather from her usual home on the right side over to the left at outside hitter and played junior Elise Carstensen at opposite.
And the change could not have worked out any better for the Bruins.
Sather led UCLA with 17 kills Friday, and Carstensen had a very successful night as well.
A middle blocker, Carstensen has also been training at opposite and may find herself more often on the right side. As she put up a career-high nine kills against the Cougars and led the Bruin hitters with a .353 hitting percentage, Carstensen could see more playing time in the near future.
“She had a great performance tonight,” Banachowski said. “She sure played like she wants to be on the court all the time. It’s always nice to see her have nice success. She really had a breakout performance tonight.”
The Bruins will see whether this lineup will continue to pay off as they face off against No. 3 Stanford on Friday and
No. 9 California on Saturday. Both matches are scheduled to be played at home in Pauley Pavilion.