Six months after raising an NCAA Championship trophy, the UCLA women’s volleyball program is preparing for a new season met with a refurbished look. It will have a new cast of players, its games will be broadcast on TV, and it will return home to an updated Pauley Pavilion.
The Bruins hope that the addition of the nation’s fifth-ranked recruiting class will fill the open spots left by then-seniors libero Lainey Gera and setter Lauren Van Orden.
Gera and Van Orden were two of the team’s most important facilitators, but a strong core of experienced leaders remains: rising seniors Bojana Todorovic, Rachael Kidder and Tabi Love, along with rising juniors Kelly Reeves and Mariana Aquino, will be the backbone of coach Mike Sealy’s rotation.
Traditionally, the team would only be on TV during the postseason. Its increased exposure will include the broadcasting of 14 matches on the Pac-12 television network.
The first game televised will be on Aug. 29 when UCLA hosts the Chinese club team Jiangsu in an exhibition match, and the first regular season game will be broadcast Sept. 12 when UCLA plays Pepperdine.
In November, nearly 12 months after the Bruins’ championship win, UCLA will play USC in the new Pauley Pavilion. The match will be the first televised volleyball contest in the new venue and will be a golden opportunity for UCLA to exact revenge under the television spotlight.
The Trojans beat the Bruins 3-1 in UCLA’s final regular season game in the John Wooden Center ““ one of its few losses on that court.
Aside from that game, the smaller Wooden Center worked in the home team’s favor numerous times throughout the season because of its ability to easily fill the stands.
UCLA will do its best to fill seats at the spacious new Pauley Pavilion. It remains to be seen if new Pauley will offer a better home court advantage than the Wooden Center did, with its low roof and numerous bleachers the ball won’t be able to travel as high and the team likely won’t play to a packed arena.
The aforementioned recruiting class includes seven freshmen who will compete for playing time: Haley Lawless, Rebecca Strehlow, Karly Drolson, Maddy Klineman, Hannah Boland, Rachel Inouye and Phelix Fincher. All except two of the freshman class are California natives; Inouye hails from Hawaii and Lawless is from Arizona.
Compiled by Eric Peck, Bruin Sports senior staff.