Friday, October 23, 1998
UCLA looks to expand win streak
W.VOLLEYBALL: Ducks, Beavers next opponents for strong Bruin
squad
By Kimberly Edds
Daily Bruin Contributor
Can they make it five  or even six  in a row?
If things go according to plan for the No. 25 UCLA women’s
volleyball team, it’s a distinct possibility.
Make that a probability, considering the way the Bruins have
been playing as of late.
Riding a four-game winning streak, the Bruins (7-9 overall, 6-3
Pac-10) head up north to face the Oregon State Beavers on Friday
and the Oregon Ducks on Sunday.
After coming out on top over such stiff competition as
fourth-ranked UC Santa Barbara and taking care of business against
Washington and Washington State, UCLA should have no problem with
the unranked Beavers (11-9, 1-8 Pac-10) and Ducks (6-14, 1-8
Pac-10) this weekend.
A big part of the Bruins’ recent success can be attributed to
the brilliant play of freshman outside hitter Kristee Porter, who
was recently named Pac-10 Conference and American Volleyball
Coaches Association (AVCA) National Player of the Week after
leading UCLA to three victories last week. She is only the second
freshman ever to receive this honor.
Porter finished the week hitting .321 with 80 kills, five blocks
and four aces. She also became the first UCLA freshman to record
over 30 kills and 20 digs in the same match with her 38 kills and
24 digs against UCSB.
Senior opposite hitter Chaska Potter’s return to the starting
lineup (after being sidelined with an injury earlier in the season)
has given the young Bruin team the experience and confidence to go
after the top-ranked teams. Potter had a career-high 25 digs in the
match against UCSB. The Bruins are 4-1 with Potter in the
lineup.
Sophomore middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman and freshman Erika
Selsor have both stepped up for the Bruins.
Bachman had a career-high performance against UCSB, hitting .477
with 24 kills. Setter Selsor turned in an incredible performance in
the same match by posting 88 assists, becoming the first freshman
in UCLA history to have over 80 assists in a single match.
UCLA will have to look out for Oregon’s Madeline Ernst on
Sunday, who leads the Pac-10 and the nation with 5.85 kills per
game. An All-American candidate, Ernst already has 415 kills on the
year, surpassing her total of 363 last season. The Ducks are on a
nine match losing streak and the Bruins hope to push it to ten.
Oregon State doesn’t have much to brag about, having only one
win against Pac-10 opponents. Sarah Bjeldanes leads the Beavers
with 3.54 kills per game, but is only hitting .152. Oregon State is
looking to break their two game losing streak after getting blown
out by Stanford and losing a close one against California.
UCLA’s match against Oregon State will be televised live on Fox
Sports Net. The match starts at 7:30 p.m.DAVE HILL
Erika Selsor goes for a dig in a game
earlier this season against UCSB.
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