Daily Bruin

Water polo prepared for Pepperdine

Bruins hopeful to even conference record, win last stretch
before NCAA tournament

By Esther Hui

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

The No. 4 UCLA men’s water polo team is still itching for a home
game after yesterday’s match against Bucknell University was
cancelled.

The unranked Bison had travelled to California from Pennsylvania
for a tournament, but because of a hazing incident that happened
over the weekend were forced to withdraw from the match with UCLA.
Bucknell University officials have suspended the water polo program
for the remainder of the year.

"I’m kind of glad in a way," UCLA head coach Guy Baker said of
the cancellation. "We really need the practice."

Intensity was high during practice yesterday, as the Bruins
prepared for their match against No. 6 Pepperdine, scheduled for
1:00 p.m. Sunday at the Sunset Canyon Pool. Only three games remain
until the NCAA Tournament invitations are considered, and a win is
important for UCLA (10-7 overall, 2-3 in the Mountain Pacific
Sports Federation) to even its conference record.

"I expect for us to play with the most intensity and play harder
than we have all season," Baker said. "It is that important of a
game. We’re going to come in and establish ourselves and have the
best game of the year. If we win that, it puts us in the driver’s
seat."

The last time the Bruins met the No. 6 Waves was in September,
when UCLA fought back from a 7-1 half-time deficit to win, 10-9.
The first half included three two-point shots by Pepperdine, a
credit to outside shooters Jeff Coker, Kevin Hurst and Zac
Holding.

"(The Pepperdine match) is a huge game for us," said Jim Toring,
out for the season with a broken leg. "If we win this game, it
won’t assure us a spot in the NCAA tournament, but it makes it just
a whole lot easier to get in. It’s kind of a screwed up year.
Everyone’s beating and losing to everyone else. For everyone but
Stanford it’s just a rat race to get a bid to the tournament.

"We’re going to need the same second half effort we had (at the
first Pepperdine match), except for the whole game this time."

UA and ASU arrive to take on Bruin spikers

By Eric Branch

Daily Bruin Staff

As the Pac-10 conference season enters its second leg, it’s gut
check time for the UCLA women’s volleyball team.

Even after accumulating 18 wins in 20 outings and being ranked
No. 3 in the nation, head coach Andy Banachowski is looking for
more.

"Now is the time for us to have a little higher level of play to
carry us through," Banachowski said.

This weekend, the Bruins (18-2 overall, 8-1 in Pac-10) will get
their first chance to reach that higher level as No.14 Arizona
State (10-6, 5-4) and No.16 Arizona (9-5, 5-4) enter Westwood.

Each of the Arizona schools took UCLA to five games in the
conference openers in September before succumbing.

"We started out slowly in both matches before we put it together
in the fifth game," Banachowski said. "We ran into them playing
good volleyball. That is something we have to expect, we have to be
ready for tough matches."

The Sun Devils will be led into Pauley Pavilion by junior
outside hitter Christine Garner. Garner, a first-team Pac-10
selection last year, has maintained her excellence this season, and
leads ASU in kills while ranking second in digs. Her 4.06 kills per
game average places her seventh in the Pac-10. Banachowski is not
expecting many dinks from the Sun Devils top gun.

"She is one of the hardest hitters in college volleyball right
now," Banachowski said. "She just hits harder and harder. There
isn’t a whole lot of finesse in her game."

After dealing with Garner, the Bruins can catch a short breath
before taking on the spirited Wildcats Saturday night. Arizona,
which handed the Bruins their only regular season loss last year,
routinely celebrate the most pedestrian of points. This year,
sophomore outside hitter Barb Bell and senior outside hitter
Melissa Ferris will be leading the yells.

Bell and Ferris lead the team in kills while placing third and
sixth in the Pac-10, respectively. Junior setter Laura Bartsch, who
ranks 10th in the nation with 13.07 assists per game, will set up
the duo.

M. soccer faces formidable rival

UCLA rounds out league play against Fullerton, SDSU

By Tim Costner

Daily Bruin Senior Staff

While Cal State Fullerton usually doesn’t conjure up the image
of a great rival to UCLA athletics, for the UCLA men’s soccer team,
the Titans are easily the biggest rival that the Bruins will face
in the regular season.

And tonight, No. 6 UCLA (13-1 overall, 4-1 in MPSF) has a
definite score to settle on Spaulding Field.

"I think Fullerton for us is our USC because ‘SC doesn’t play
soccer," UCLA head coach Sigi Schmid said. "For us, Fullerton is
similar to ‘SC because these are the guys who played with our guys
on club teams. They’re the guys who our players see around in the
summer and play in the (Olympic) Festival with."

It was last season that the Titans handed the Bruins one of
their two regular-season losses, 2-1, and the Bruins still remember
the game. It would be difficult to forget.

The scenario of this season’s game is similar to last year’s
game. UCLA is atop the MPSF, and Fullerton needs a win to help get
them to the postseason.

"Last year they didn’t finish in the top two in our league,"
Schmid said. "They needed a win against us to salvage any hopes of
making the playoffs. It’s the same this year. Last year we opened
the door for them, and this year we don’t want to be as
hospitable."

On Sunday, the Bruins face San Diego State, a team that they
beat handily, 7-0, in the spring season.

But at this point, the Aztecs should put up more of a fight.

"San Diego State’s better at this part of the season," Schmid
said. "They’re generally not very good in the spring, but they’re a
very difficult team to play against. They’re very direct and they
tend to play a lot of long balls."

Friday’s game begins at 7:30 p.m. on Spaulding Field, while
Sunday’s game is at 2 p.m. on the North Soccer Field.

* * *

UCLA’s Adam Frye and Caleb Meyer will miss this weekend due to
injuries, but Frankie Hejduk ­ who missed some practice with a
slight injury ­ should be available for both games.

Harriers trek to Pomona tourney

For a few Bruins,

their postseason

is on line at meet

By Mark Singerton

The UCLA men’s and women’s cross country teams have eight more
days to relax, and then it’s off to the races.

Stanford will host the Pac-10 Championships Oct. 29, and until
then, the Bruins will be training intensively to regain focus after
their disappointing finishes at the Brigham Young Invitational Oct.
15.

Both squads have yet to decide which seven runners will be sent
to Palo Alto and later to Tucson for the District-8 championships,
but the choices will be made after the Bronco Invitational this
weekend.

Cal Poly Pomona will host Saturday’s meet ­ a 5000-meter
event for the women, 8000-meters for the men. Neither UCLA squad
will run as a team, but the race is extremely important for the
runners who may not make the roster cuts.

Coach Eric Peterson, whose Bruin women are ranked 13th in the
nation, has one more spot to fill. Competing for it will be juniors
Jeanene Harlick and Githa Hampson and senior Susannah Thrasher.

Harlick’s situation is critical. Last season she was arguably
the No. 3 runner on the squad. She has struggled in 1994 however,
and after lackluster finishes at Stanford and Brigham Young ­
where she finished 58th and 73rd ­ she must fight to make the
roster.

"This is the best way for me to make this decision," Peterson
said. "I have to be as objective as possible because all three
runners are deserving of the spot."

The men’s team will send freshman Matt Olin and junior Scott
Urner to the event. Olin will be sent to gain experience as a
possible alternate for the Pac-10 Championships, while Urner has
been sidelined all season with a back injury, and is trying to
regain his form.

Football plays for pride in desert

UCLA aims to turn its season around at UA

By Randy Satterburg

Daily Bruin Staff

There is no rest for the weary.

The UCLA football team, already reeling from a five-game losing
streak, now faces the considerable task of traveling to Tucson,
Ariz., to take on No. 13 Arizona.

The Wildcats are unlikely to give the slumping Bruins any
sympathy. Last season, in what was billed as the Pac-10’s "game of
the year," UCLA thumped the ‘Cats, 37-17. Saturday’s rematch has
been long-awaited in Tucson.

"We have to be prepared to play against the best that they
have," Arizona head coach Dick Tomey said. "We know what UCLA did
(to us) last year, so we have to expect their best team to show
up."

But what a difference a year makes. This time around, the game
still has Rose Bowl implications ­ just not for UCLA.

Arizona (5-1 overall, 3-0 Pac-10) has assumed the lead in the
run for the roses based on its unblemished conference mark, making
every game the rest of the way important if the Wildcats are to
represent the Pac-10 in the Rose Bowl for the first time ever.

The Bruins (2-5, 0-4) would love to deal the conference
front-runner its first setback, but the odds are stacked against
them.

The Bruins are struggling mightily to put points on the board.
Their average of 13.4 points per game is the worst in the
conference.

On the flip side, the Wildcats’ defense is among the best in the
nation at preventing its opponents from scoring ­ giving up
just 10.3 points per game in six outings.

In addition, Arizona boasts a formidable running attack that
averages nearly 200 yards per game, third-best in the Pac-10. UCLA
will attempt to counter with a defense that ranks last in the
conference in rushing yards allowed, at 273.6 yards per game.

On paper the game is a mismatch of monumental proportions.
Thankfully for the Bruins however, the game isn’t played on
paper.

"We’re going down to play what is obviously a real good football
team this week," UCLA head coach Terry Donahue said. "We are going
to have to do a great job of preparation and a real good job of
getting competitive on game day to stay in there and do well
against them."