Friday, September 26, 1997
Women’s volleyball anticipates strong season despite losses
WRAP-UP: Excellent physical and mental conditioning of team
sparks hopes for successful year
By Jennifer Kollenborn
Daily Bruin Contributor
So far so good.
After only seven matches this season, the UCLA women’s
volleyball team has jumped from No. 21 to No. 17 in the Association
of Volleyball Coaches Poll.
This improved reputation is backed by the Bruins overall record
of 5-2.
UCLA seems to have recovered from its losses last season, when
the Bruins failed to qualify for playoffs.
The Bruins’ health and solid preparation has led to UCLA’s
winning status and competitive edge, according to head coach Andy
Banachowski.
"We started off this year in better physical shape," Banachowski
said. "The most concentrated effort that we all put into (practice
and staying healthy) has led to our improvement and should be
beneficial to the team throughout the season this year."
Team captain Kara Milling also agreed that UCLA is more prepared
for the 1997 season. "(Banachowski) is the one who brought our team
together in January and told us this year would be a new season and
we would all have to work hard and build up muscle to improve our
stamina and shape. As a result, I think that we are healthy and
better conditioned mentally and physically."
UCLA has jumped aboard the winning bandwagon once again this
season, only giving up one game to Arizona in the Bruins’ one home
match thus far.
Last Friday night, UCLA (1-1 conference, 5-2 overall) lost to
Arizona ( 1-1, 9-1) in a tight five game match (14-16, 15-6, 16-14,
4-15, 13-15) in one hour and twenty five minutes.
The Fox Sports televised match only drew a crowd of 1,717 to
Pauley Pavilion. For those who did attend must have considered the
trip well worth their time. The match went back and forth, both
teams rallying for every point.
Compared to UCLA’s previous away matches which were all
untelevised, the lacking attendance appears shocking. When UCLA
faced off against Houston in the Hawaii Airlines Tournament on
Sept. 5, 7,613 attended; vs. North Carolina the crowd was 6,393;
vs. Hawaii in the finals there were 8,344; at Texas the attendance
was 4,203.
So what happened to blue and gold spirit when No. 17 UCLA played
No. 16 Arizona?
Well, maybe UCLA can attribute its unfortunate season-opening
loss to lack of crowd support, but the Bruins instead recognized
the loss as unlucky in a close game.
"There were a few opportunities where we couldn’t convert
transition points", Banachowski said. " We didn’t get off to a good
start and let down in the forth game, but we ended well in the
third at 16-14 and the fifth game is rally scoring and could have
easily gone either way."
Despite the loss, UCLA’s starting players left their mark in the
volleyball arena.
Senior captain outside-hitter Kara Milling equaled her career
highs with a match-best 29 kills and 15 digs. Senior setter Kim
Coleman boasted 73 assists as four Bruins reached double figures in
kills.
Kara Milling is the backbone of the Bruin offense.
"Kara Milling is carrying a tremendous load", head coach
Banachowski said. Milling is leading the team in hitting percentage
at .379 and her 6.16 kpg is leading the country. "I think that her
playing on the university team last summer in Italy made her
stronger and more mature."
After dropping its first conference match to Arizona, UCLA
returned to its winning ways with a 3-0 sweep over Arizona State
(15-13, 15-9, 16-14) on Sept. 20.
UCLA dominated most of the match even though games one and three
had fairly close scores. The quick victory over the Sun Devils gave
UCLA its fourth sweep of the season which bumped the Bruins up to
No. 17 in the AVCA rankings.
In the match, Milling again led the Bruins to victory with a
match-high 20 kills, and was joined in double figures by Tanisha
Larkin who notched 18 kills. In addition, Coleman provided 51
assists.
Coleman’s aptitude as a setter reflected on her defensive aspect
of the game, as she leads the Bruins in blocking at 1.52 bpg.
" Kim Coleman is doing a nice job running the team", Banachowski
said. "She is our setter, thus we count on her to provide the
assists mixing up the players who she passes to."
Tonight, UCLA hits the road once again, but this time, to the
rainy state of Washington.
UCLA’s "Irresistible Force" continues PAC-10 Conference action
at the home of the fifteenth ranked Huskies at the University of
Washington and No. 6 Washington State.
"These next two road matches will be difficult ones",
Banachowski opined. "If we can side out-we can have the ability to
win. We are a better defensive team-more adapted and we have more
opportunities to block for points. We need to score on transition
if we are going to capitalize to win."
Against Washington (2-0 conference, 7-4 overall), the Bruins
lead the series 27-3; however, Bruin head coach, Banachowski,
remarked that the Huskies are one of the best unranked teams
because of their tremendous blocking.
Washington’s strength has proven to be successful as they
recently defeated both Oregon and Oregon State 3-0. The Huskies
main offensive weapon will be senior quick hitter, Makare Desilets:
a First-Team All-PAC-10 selection in ’96, Desilets ranks second in
the PAC-10 in blocks (73) and tenth in kills (160).
Against Washington State (2-0 in conference, 14-0 overall), UCLA
leads the series 19-3. Junior outside hitter Jennifer Stinson has
led Washington State to its 14-0 start. Stinson is currently the
PAC 10 leader in blocks with 84.
Daily Bruin file photo
Tanisha Larkin during a game last year.