Nellie Spicer set the ball; Katie Carter smashed it. The match
had ended, but the pandemonium that ensued was just beginning.
The No. 21 UCLA women’s volleyball team had just upset a
Washington Huskies team that was undefeated in five games to give
coach Andy Banachowski his 1,000th career win in front of a
sparkling home crowd.
“It was a great feeling last year,” senior middle
blocker Nana Meriwether said. “We were in a slump at that
point and getting that win really reenergized us and reenergized
the end of our season.”
This year’s rematch, which takes place tonight at 7 p.m.
in Pauley Pavilion, has been receiving even more pre-game hype than
last year’s match, and with good reason.
The No. 4 Huskies (12-1, 2-0 Pac-10), who didn’t lose
another match en route to a national title after their loss to the
Bruins last season, are off to yet another great start. Washington
swept No. 8 Cal and No. 6 Stanford at home last weekend to extend
its home winning streak to 22 matches.
No. 3 UCLA (15-0, 2-0 Pac-10) meanwhile, is off to its best
start since 2003. The Bruins have won 13 of their 15 matches by
sweep this season, including victories over then-No. 5 Florida and
then-No. 7 Hawai’i.
The Bruins opened up their Pac-10 season last week with easy
victories over Oregon and Oregon State, but Washington presents a
much bigger challenge.
“(The Huskies are) gonna be pretty fired up, realizing
that their trip down here was the one blemish on their record last
year ““ although I think we did them a favor by knocking them
off last year when we did,” Banachowski said.
“They’ll certainly want to come in here and show that
they can win on our court, so it’s going to be a real
battle.”
“I’m sure they’re gonna be pumped,”
sophomore setter Spicer added. “After last year, we were
their only loss, and it was at home and we kind of made a huge deal
about it. Any athlete is gonna be wanting revenge for
that.”
While the Bruins have beat some tough opponents in the early
going, their schedule has softened a bit in the last few matches.
UCLA has cruised to easy wins over weaker opponents in each of its
last nine matches.
Facing the Huskies should be a good wake-up call and measuring
stick for the Bruins, who are playing their first home match of the
season at Pauley Pavilion.
“It’ll be different for us,” Banachowski said.
“It will be like another road trip for some of our new kids.
It’s gonna be nice to play on our home court in familiar
surroundings and to have more family and friends here to watch
us.”
And what better way for UCLA to open up the home season than to
face the defending national champions?
“Hopefully we’ll have a great crowd come out,
because they’ll see some great volleyball,” Banachowski
said. “I think the fans will be in for a real
treat.”