Sophomore Lauren Fendrick continues to
be one of the Bruins’ hard-hitting weapons in the starting
lineup.
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
She’s cool, calm, collected and everything is set out in
front of her.
UCLA volleyball player Lauren Fendrick is taking it one day at a
time and enjoying the experience along the way ““ even when
the outside hitter is about to face cross-town rival USC in one of
the team’s biggest matches of the season.
“We don’t talk about it, but it’s in the back
of everyone’s mind, I’m sure,” Fendrick said.
“We’re going to think about how we’re playing
at that point. We’re going to be a team and be focused and
hopefully the outcome will be a win,” she said.
This is the mindset that landed Fendrick a starting position in
her freshman year. And this is why she’s enjoying where she
is, because she looks at the situation for what it is and takes it
one step at a time.
Having only played volleyball since her sophomore year in high
school, Fendrick is relatively new to the sport. When it came time
to choose what direction she wanted to go athletically, she chose
the one she was best at.
Ironically, in her senior year of high school, her softball
coach forbade her from playing both volleyball and softball. Her
solution was to pick up a golf club instead of a bat and get right
back out on the court.
 JESSE PORTER/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Right side hitter
Lauren Fendrick steps in and sets the ball during
UCLA’s match against Oregon State last week. “I like the
teamwork concept of it all,” Fendrick explained.
“There are intense pressure situations and you have to
perform ““ it’s a lot about quick
performance.”
She was recruited by UCLA for volleyball, but that didn’t
stop her from assuming her position in the pitching circle once
spring rolled around.
“I talked to Andy (Banachowski, the volleyball coach)
before Christmas break and told him I wanted to play softball. I
ended up trying out after break and she (coach Sue Enquist) said
she wanted me as part of the team. It was a spur-of-the-moment kind
of thing,” she said.
But it’s not just her athletic talent that has her on two
Bruin rosters, it’s her approach to the game and to life
““ a realistic approach mixed with a sense of humor.
“Fendi is a really funny person,” said senior team
captain Elisabeth Bachman.
“She’s very intense, but when times come when
we’re really excited, she does a really good job celebrating
her excitement and getting other people to have a good time out
there.”
This is one of the things that Fendrick strives to do on the
court.
“If we’re ever down or everyone looks like they have
long faces, I try to make a joke to lighten the mood and bring
everyone together,” she said.
She entered a team chock-full of talented veteran players and
earned herself a starting position. At the time, Banachowski was
looking for a way to better balance his team’s offensive
attack ““ and by moving Ashley Bowles to the right side and
starting Lauren on the left, he found what he was looking for.
“She proved herself to be the best in the competition
during the preseason,” Banachowski said. “She has the
skills to hold down position.”
It’s not just her hitting or her blocking, but her
digging, serving, and ability to step in and set that makes her
such a threat to the team on the other side of the net. Fendrick is
second on the Bruin squad in digs with 127, and leads the team with
28 aces, four more than she had in the 1999 season.
“She’s a solid passer and defensive player as well
as hitting, and does a great job blocking,” Bachman said.
“She does really well all around.”
Bruin setter Erika Selsor agrees.
“She’s a very solid player for us. She’s a
great blocker and hitter,” she said. “Things have been
a little different for us because she’s moved to the right
side recently, but it seems to be working out really well for her
right now.”
In the game of volleyball, the glory comes with the position at
the left front of the court. This player gets the most sets, the
most kills, and the most attention from the blockers.
The right side is a different challenge. This player must put up
the big block against the other team’s left side, and this is
just what Fendrick does.
She played on the left through her rookie year, and moved to the
right side this year, mostly because of an ankle injury she
suffered over the summer. Fendrick lost some training time due to
the injury and Banachowski thought she would do better on the
right.
It turned out to be a perfect fit.
“We look to her to be a power hitter for us and a big
blocker, and she’s come up with some big blocking plays and
her hitting has been rapidly improving as she’s getting
stronger,” Banachowski said.
Fendrick is dubbed in the UCLA media guide as a player capable
of both right and left side play. And after careful consideration
about which side is better, she gives her final answer.
“I really like the right side because I feel like
it’s a more all-around position,” Fendrick said.
“You get to block a lot of balls, and you dig a lot of hard
balls, and there’s the setting too.”
It’s this fast-paced action that keeps Fendrick coming
back for more and it’s the moves that go unrecorded on the
stat sheet that bring her the most satisfaction.
“I really love anything that doesn’t happen very
often, the little things,” Fendrick said. “I love
picking up a ball that’s an overpass or getting a ball that
everyone thinks is definitely down, or blocking a ball that
you’re solo blocking on or getting an ace.”
Games like the one against Cal, when Fendrick did damage across
the board with a .417 hitting percentage, 11 digs and a school
record seven aces in a four-game match, show why she is a starter
on the UCLA squad.
And with the UCLA jersey comes another kind of pressure. When
teams face off against the Bruins, they face off against one of the
premier volleyball programs in the nation.
But instead of letting this pressure intimidate her, Fendrick
uses it as fuel.
“I feel like I want to make a mark,” Fendrick said.
“I want to keep the tradition going. I like how every team is
fired up to play you.”
This week’s match against the Trojans may be the most
telling of the conference season. With USC holding strong at No. 5,
the eighth-ranked Bruins have a challenge waiting due east of
Westwood.
But like always, Fendrick will approach the game with a
realistic mindset and clear objective.
“We want to be the best team we can be in there,”
she said. “We’ve been going over our mental routines
““ what we’re going to do if we get down a point. Play
each play, point by point and don’t think about the outcome,
don’t think about ranking.”
And take it as it comes.