Junior Nikki Blue is feeling blue. The starting point guard of
the women’s basketball team sustained a right ankle injury in
practice earlier this week when she landed awkwardly on her foot
after clutching a rebound. The swelling has since subsided, but her
ankle is still tender enough that Blue has not yet been allowed to
compete in practices, even though she’s itching to return to
the floor. “I feel like it’s a setback, even though
it’s only been a couple of days,” Blue said.
“I’m just sitting and watching … and I hate
it.” Blue tried to test the ankle for five minutes during
Thursday’s practice, but was quickly taken off the floor by
coach Kathy Olivier. No timetable has been set as to when Blue will
be able to return to practice, but the junior thinks she’ll
be able to step back onto the court starting Monday. Blue was
second on the team last year in scoring (15.2 points per game) and
led the squad in assists.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Kansas is at the top of
the USA Today/ESPN pre-season rankings. The Jayhawks are followed
by three ACC teams in Wake Forest, North Carolina and Georgia Tech,
respectively. Arizona is the highest ranked Pac-10 team at No. 11.
Washington and Stanford are the other two schools in the conference
that are ranked, checking in at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively.
Notre Dame and Michigan State are the only ranked non-conference
schools on UCLA’s schedule.
SOFTBALL: Team USA Elite improved to 5-1 at the
World University Championships in Plant City, Fla., with a pair of
victories on Thursday. Players Caitlin Benyi and Andrea Duran, both
juniors at UCLA, had major contributions in the team’s 2-0
win over Canada and 3-0 win over China. Duran went 2 for 3 in the
first game against Canada. In the second game against China, both
she and Benyi scored runs off a Sara Dean triple in the sixth
inning to give Team USA the lead. The team faces Guatemala today
before moving into the playoff round tomorrow.
CLUB WATER POLO: The UCLA men’s club
water polo team completed their regular season with a 4-4 record.
The team finished tied for fourth in its division, closing the
regular season with three consecutive wins. They will participate
in the Pacific Coast Division Championships next weekend. The
Bruins are also ranked 13th in the nation. Three of their losses
came to teams ranked in the top 10 ““ to Cal Poly, USC and
Fresno State.
Compiled by Andrew Finley, Jeff Eisenberg and Seth Fast
Glass, Bruin Sports senior staff.