Disappointment cut deep last week in the Lone Star state.
Dropped sets and unforced errors defined the Bruins’ first trip to Texas, and the squad will likely need growth and precision to ensure that blunders do not define its second.
No. 24 UCLA women’s volleyball (1-3) is heading to the Sun City Classic in El Paso, Texas, where it will face UTEP (6-0) on Thursday, Oral Roberts (0-5) on Friday and Texas Southern (0-7) on Saturday.
Despite the team’s fresh talent and transfers, the losses against then-No. 24 TCU and unranked Pepperdine have revealed the insecurities of an unproven team. UCLA, which opened its season ranked No. 19 in the AVCA poll has not met expectations, dropping four places during its three-match losing streak – such a slump has not occurred since the squad’s 2023 campaign.
“We’re right there, toe-to-toe right about to 18, and then it’s a couple loose systematic plays or touches and that’s the ball game,” said coach Alfee Reft. “When you’re playing teams like TCU, you can’t afford to give free points away, and we just gave too many free points away.”
The Bruins have struggled with attack and service errors, technical mistakes that lost them their last three contests. The TCU series highlighted these holes in UCLA’s play, making the Sun City Classic the perfect stepping stone for the team to address its weaknesses in lower stakes matchups.
The series in El Paso will be the Bruins’ third leg of their 10-match road trip during the nonconference slate.
UCLA’s first Sun City Classic opponent is UTEP, which is riding a six game win streak. The Miners are currently unranked, but received six votes in the latest rankings.
UTEP had a tightly-contested three-set sweep against Pepperdine – a team that handed UCLA a four-set loss the following week – at the end of August, capturing each set by four points or less.
The Miners have outplayed the Bruins at the service line, with an ace-to-service-error ratio of 0.58 compared to the Bruins’ 0.26 clip.
Particularly, the Bruins could struggle against the Miners’ aggressive offense, which boasts a .307 hitting percentage. Outside hitter Torrance Lovesee and middle blocker Kaya Weaver lead the hitting arsenal and have combined for 118 kills across six matches.
Overcoming the Miners will take greater technical precision, improved attacking efficiency and serving consistency that the squad has yet to showcase this season.
But the tournament presents an opportunity for growth in light of the team’s early setbacks. The Bruins’ performance across the next three days will reveal whether the squad is actively learning from its losses and improving.
“We don’t want an easy win,” said senior outside hitter Carly Hendrickson. “That’s why we have the schedule we have … this season is about how fast we can learn and apply what we’ve learned.”
UCLA will also face Oral Roberts and Texas Southern to close out the tournament, both of which have yet to win a match. Both teams have struggled offensively, with Oral Roberts posting a .131 hitting percentage and Texas Southern’s recording a .130 clip thus far. These matches could be the perfect opportunity for the Bruins to make positive strides.
Nonetheless, three games in three days will be demanding for a team which has spent all of its season on the road. But UCLA’s demanding schedule gives the squad many opportunities to work out its kinks before its next ranked matchup.
“I think we can talk a lot about how we need to move in a positive direction and all that, but it’s a lot about how our actions are going to mimic that,” said freshman outside hitter Eliana Urzua. “We only have two days to prepare, but those two days are going to be a big time for us.”
The Bruins will kick off the tournament against UTEP on Thursday at 5 p.m.
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