Many UCLA students have severed ties with their dear friend sleep as midterms and papers loom ahead in the near future. Likewise, the women’s volleyball team is working to stay awake and energized for the second half of its season.
The No. 6 Bruins (16-3, 9-2 Pac-12) enter into the latter half of the Pac-12 conference with home games against Colorado (5-14, 0-11) on Friday, followed by Utah (8-12, 3-8) on Saturday.
The Bruins are just one win back of first place in the Pac-12, and they need to keep winning in order to be contenders for that top spot in the conference. And in order to keep winning, the team needs to make sure it goes out onto the court completely ready.
“We still have two teams that show up,” coach Mike Sealy said. “One is focused and intense and ready to play. The other team is just sleepy. And it shows up every now and then, for all three of our losses and some of other games.”
Though the Bruins won their last two games, they dropped one on the road as the then-No. 2 team in the country against an unranked Arizona team, showing that even the best teams can fall.
“We want to be more stable and mentally strong because we had several losses that almost shouldn’t have happened if we had played our best game,” junior outside hitter Bojana Todorovic said.
This is the second time the Bruins are going up against both Colorado and Utah. The first round went to UCLA as it swept 3-0 against both teams in every set. Even though both Colorado and Utah are unranked, the Bruins cannot take them lightly.
“We need to know the opponent that we’re playing, be comfortable with what they’re doing and be comfortable with the changes they’ll be making,” Todorovic said. “We beat them last time, so what they did last time didn’t work, so they’ll be changing things.”
One player the Bruins can rely on is senior defense specialist/libero Lainey Gera who was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week after last week’s victories against Oregon and Oregon State.
“It’s nice to know that your hard work pays off, but it’s time to move onto next week,” Gera said.
“It’s bittersweet because it’s my last season, so it’s my last half of the Pac-12. It makes me a little sad, but we’re excited to go into the second half and keep improving.”
Sealy made some substitutions last week against Oregon State and allowed his younger bench players an opportunity to shine.
“I have to make sure that if something happens whether now or in the tournament, they’ll be ready,” Sealy said. “People will play that will help us get wins.”