Monday, October 6, 1997
Weekend bittersweet against Northern California teams
Team’s complacence, inability to focus brings losses
By Sam Toussi
Daily Bruin Contributor
Northern California came to play this weekend as the UCLA
women’s volleyball team took on UC Berkeley and defending NCAA
champion Stanford.
Berkeley went into Friday’s match hungry, since it had never
defeated UCLA in its 30 attempts. For the Bruins, the match was a
doughnut game, a game against an average or below-average team just
before facing a tough opponent and therefore difficult to focus on.
The Bruins were obviously not focused to start the match, falling
out of sync early at 5-0.
The Bruins stormed back to take a 13-10 lead before Berkeley
took a timeout and returned to the court rejuvenated. As the Bruins
failed to score on game point four times, the Golden Bears rallied
and won the game, 16-14.
The second game featured a Bruin team against the historically
insurmountable wall of going down two games to none. UCLA continued
to struggle at first but soon found a groove, broke a 5-5 tie with
a 9-2 run, and eventually went on to win 15-10.
The Bruins’ overconfidence returned in the pivotal third game as
they had Berkeley behind the eight-ball, 14-12, but again failed to
score on game point four times. Berkeley rallied to take a 15-14
lead and went on to win, 18-16.
The Bruins seemed dazed at the start of the fourth game as they
quickly fell behind, 10-4. But Kara Milling showed her leadership
as the team’s captain as she lit a fire under her teammates. Coach
Andy Banachowski took a timeout, and the team came out with new
life.
"We talked about what we needed to do," Coach Banachowski said.
"We needed to get fired up for the fourth game. We really weren’t
making good decisions and letting them get away with easy
points."
UCLA stormed back to take a 12-10 lead.
"We weren’t really concerned about the score. We just knew we
needed to play hard on every ball and give 100 percent," Lyn Embree
said.
Milling’s booming voice and constant, upbeat attitude lifted her
team. "She’s the loudest on our team, and sometimes that’s really
what we need," Lyn Embree said.
But as any good captain does, Milling backed up her talk with a
series of powerful spikes and critical defensive digs.
Lyn Embree came up big in the fourth game as well with seven of
her career high of 27 kills. Coach Banachowski also got crucial
contributions from Chaska Potter, freshman defensive specialist
Michelle Quon, and freshman middle blocker Amy Nihipali.
Injuries have slowed Potter down this season, but she played
extremely hard in the clutch. "It was really nice to see her out
there and nice to see her playing relaxed. She gave the team a lift
in the fourth game when we really needed it," Coach Banachowski
said.
Quon and Nihipali platooned in the rotation with Quon playing in
back and chipping in with eight defensive digs and Nihipali up
front contributing with critical blocks and five kills.
"I think they’re both going to be great UCLA players," Coach
Banachowski said later. "Nihipali really has lived up to her
pre-season billing. She’s a great athlete, real quick, with a great
future. And Michelle Quon has raised everyone’s level of play with
her defensive abilities."
With a newfound confidence and momentum, the Bruins easily took
the fifth and final game, 15-11.
The win was naturally emotional as the Bruins came back from the
dead to win the match. UCLA needed this particular victory in order
to salvage their record and their pride after losing both games in
Seattle. "This was crucial for our team record and team chemistry,"
Milling explained. "We had come to a fork in the road, and it
could’ve gone either way."
"We needed this game for momentum against Stanford," Embree
agreed.
But the momentum did not carry to the match against Stanford.
The Cardinal made quick work of the Bruins in an hour and 15
minutes.
"You lose to a good team and it’s not devastating," Banachowski
said. "We’ll look for the things we did right and correct the
things we did wrong."
The Bruins went down in three straight games, 15-10, 15-6,
15-10. Throughout the game the Bruins looked out of sync and off
balance. The incredibly talented Cardinal team contributed to
that.
"They’re a very big, strong blocking team," Banachowski said as
the Cardinal out-blocked the Bruins, 12-4. "They’re very imposing
at the net, and they really bothered our attack."
"We didn’t go out there with confidence," Milling said. "We
didn’t think we could play with them, and it’s a shame because I
really think we could have."
The Bruins will attempt to regroup with the rallying cry to win
all three games they have this week. The Bruins will play at San
Diego State before they go on the road to take on Oregon State and
Oregon.