KATHRYN OGLE Elisabeth Bachman goes up
for a hit off the dish from Erika Selsor in UCLA’s
three-game sweep over Oregon. Men’s Waterpolo
UCLA d. Oregon 15-6, 15-6, 15-1
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It was time to redeem themselves.
It didn’t matter that it was a different Oregon team on
the other side of the net on Friday night ““ the UCLA Bruins
reiterated their dominating volleyball ability by sweeping the
Oregon Ducks 15-6, 15-6, 15-1 in a one and a half hour match.
“Last night we were having a problem coming into the game
prepared and being ready to play,” outside hitter Kristee
Porter said of Thursday’s loss to Oregon State. “And
this game we were ready to play. We came out, played hard, got
ahead and got a couple of points in.”
In fact, the Ducks didn’t score until the Bruins had run
away with 11 points, and it was a UCLA hit just long of the back
line that finally put Oregon on the board.
Once UCLA reached the 14-point mark, the Ducks posted two more
points and held the Bruins off from three game-point attempts
before finally falling 15-6. Ashley Bowles’ only kill in that
game was the 1,000th of her career.
UCLA jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in game two, and from there
the Ducks battled through several sideouts to put a point on the
board. In her Pac-10 debut, freshman middle blocker Cira Wright
left her mark on the match. Playing the first two games of the
match, Wright contributed five kills, a hitting percentage of .556
and scrappy play at the net.
 KATHRYN OGLE Kristee Porter powers
through the block in a victory over Oregon. “Cira had a good
warm-up and I started her and she did so well out there that I left
her out there a little longer than I had planned,” said UCLA
head coach Andy Banachowski. “It was good playing time for
her and she held her own out there very, very well.
“To give Cira some playing time out there is only going to
strengthen the team.”
The Bruins held Oregon to just one point, while they racked up
three more.
But once UCLA earned their ninth, the Ducks went on a 4-0 rally
to bring the score to 9-5 and UCLA called a timeout.
The Bruins then rallied the score to 13 and Wright executed two
key kills to give UCLA sideouts, while the score held at 13-5. The
Ducks only earned one more point as the game ended 15-6 off of an
ace serve by Stacey Lee, her second of three on the night.
In the third game the Bruins jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and held
the Ducks at one for the rest of the match. Posting four more
kills, Lauren Fendrick brought her total to 11, with a hitting
percentage of .450. Erika Selsor served UCLA from eight points to
11, and the Bruins closed the match out 15-1.
The match gave Banachowski the opportunity to rotate in some of
the younger players. Freshman Krystal McFarland and sophomore
Lauren Hogan also made their Pac-10 debuts, with Hogan and Ella
Harley combining for a big block in game three with the score at
12-1.
According to Banachowski, it was the Bruins’ focus and
intensity that carried them to their fifth Pac-10 victory.
“We played well from start to finish and that’s
something we didn’t do (in the previous game),”
Banachowski said. “We talked about being able to concentrate
throughout each and every game and we did a good job at
that.”
Bowles agreed. “It was a group win. We maintained our
consistency and we had an all-around game,” she said.
Having had a wake-up call from Oregon State, the Bruins realized
that not only do they need physical play but intensity
throughout.