ANGIE LEVINE The No. 5 women’s volleyball team hope to
move up in the standings by defeating Washington and Washington St.
in matches this weekend.
By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Reporter
On the final weekend of Pac-10 competition last season, UCLA
made the yearly road trip to the Washington schools. Not a
volleyball powerhouse, it would have been easy to pencil in a
couple wins for the Bruins.
Good thing they used pencil.
Washington State had other ideas, defeating UCLA three games to
one and all but ending the Bruins’ hopes of chasing down USC
and Arizona for the conference crown.
“We’re very familiar with that loss last
year,” senior setter Erika Selsor said. “It taught us a
lot about being prepared and not taking anything for granted; not
getting distracted.”
In a conference with such talented teams as Stanford, USC and
Arizona, Selsor’s comments exemplify how easy it was, and
could be again, for UCLA to look at the crowded field around them
and forget the also-rans still in the race.
Of course, the Bruins (7-2) hope things will be different this
season.
First, the Bruins take on Washington (8-4) tonight at 7 p.m. in
Seattle. Friday at 7 p.m., the Bruins face the Cougars (5-2).
According to the national rankings, No. 5 UCLA shouldn’t
have too much trouble this weekend.
“We’ll mention last year’s trip up
there,” UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski said.
“Hopefully we will have learned some lessons about preparing
to play on the road and preparing to play in an unfriendly
environment.”
“I think that’ll be big on our minds and be aware of
not letting it happen again,” Banachowski continued.
According to the national rankings, No. 5 UCLA shouldn’t
have too much trouble this weekend with the unranked Washington
schools.
Senior outside hitters Kristee Porter, Selsor and outside hitter
Ashley Bowles lead the three schools per-game in kills, sets and
service aces, respectively.
Porter is also 20 kills away from setting a school record for a
career total in that category. The current record holder is Natalie
Williams (’92) with 2,115.
Off the court, the trip holds another significant mark for the
team. The road trip is the squad’s first outside the city
since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Both Selsor and Banachowski said that while there have been no
special team-specific plans discussed as of yet, they are aware
that their routine at the airport may be different.
However, neither sensed that there was any significant
apprehension within the team to make the trip.