Friday, November 14, 1997
Bruins look to upset high-ranked teams
W. VOLLEYBALL:
‘Players of the Week’ to face off tonight against USCBy Jennifer
Kollenborn
Daily Bruin Staff
The volleyball bloodshed featuring No. 24 UCLA (12-10, 7-8
Pac-10) and No. 7 USC (19-4, 11-4) commences tonight in the Women
of Troy’s North Gym at 7 p.m.
UCLA enters the match aiming to upset the Trojans, adding to the
Bruins’ current three-game winning streak.
"We really need to upset some of these higher ranked teams in
order to make it into the playoffs," UCLA head coach Andy
Banachowski said. "We need to be at the .500 mark to have a
chance."
In the six matches that remain, the Bruins need to come up
winning and upset some of the top teams in the Pac-10 Â either
No. 10 Arizona, No. 13 Pepperdine or No. 19 Pacific  in order
to qualify for the NCAA tournament which is less than three weeks
away.
Against USC, UCLA leads the series 47-32, but when the two teams
last met on Oct. 17, the Women of Troy defeated the Bruins 3-2.
However, the Bruins’ chances of winning tonight are good, since
UCLA hasn’t lost two Pac-10 matches to USC in nearly 10 years
(since 1987).
USC leads in attack percentage, hitting .266 to the Bruin’s .234
and blocks an average of 3.34 blocks per game to UCLA’s 3.17.
The two teams shared Pac-10 Player of the Week honors: UCLA’s
senior outside hitter Kara Milling and USC’s junior middle blocker
Jasmina Marinkovic. Each player led their teams to wins over Oregon
and Oregon State on Nov. 7 and Nov. 8.
Marinkovic hit an outstanding .737 (14-0-19) against Oregon
State and .448 (16-3-29) against Oregon and racked up nine blocks
for the week.
Marinkovic leads the team and Pac-10 in attack percentage
(.423), and is second on the squad and seventh in the league in
kills (348/4.35 per game). Also, she leads in blocking with 19 solo
and ranks fifth in the Pac-10, averaging 1.55 bpg.
Milling totaled 40 kills and 23 digs over seven games in the two
matches. She notched her second 20/20 performance of the season
against Oregon State on Nov. 7, when she recorded 21 kills and
served five aces.