2008 Woodie Awards
UCLA women's volleyball keeps perfect record against Cal
Colin Yuhl--Daily Bruin (U. California-Los Angeles)
Issue date: 10/20/03 Section: Sports
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(U-WIRE) LOS ANGELES - After the Bruins suffered through an exhausting and bitter loss to Stanford a night earlier, Cal found itself in perfect position to finally gain a victory over UCLA in women's volleyball, something it has never accomplished in school history.
They'll have to wait until Nov. 14 -- when the two teams meet in Pauley Pavilion -- until they can get another shot.
UCLA's perfect record against Cal continued on Friday, as the No. 11 Bruins (14-4, 6-3 Pac-10) upset the No. 5 Golden Bears (16-1, 7-1) with a 3-2 (30-22, 14-30, 24-30, 30-22, 15-12) victory at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. The victory extended UCLA's record against Cal to 43-0 all-time, salvaged a split on their most important road swing, and handed the Bears their first loss of the season.
"We've never lost to Cal and that's a lot of incentive right there," freshman outside hitter Becky Green said. "It was a must-win situation for us."
The Bears were fresh and ready to rumble, while the Bruins barely had their legs under them. Add to that the fact that Cal was undefeated on the year, and it seemed as though coach Andy Banachowski's perfect record was in severe jeopardy. But ultimately, it was UCLA's defense that overcame all odds, picking the Bruins up off the floor and leading the team to a critical victory.
Cal's offense, led by All-American Mia Jerkov, hit a paltry -.024 in the first game, by far their worst total of the season. But the Bears stormed back in games two and three, finding their rhythm and hitting .556 and .388 in those two games, respectively.
"We started out a little nervous, and looked a little tired from last night," Banachowski said. "We just did not have anything going in that second game and after the break we were still flat."
At that point, Banachowski made a few substitutions that seemed to turn the game back in UCLA's favor, replacing senior middle blocker Cira Wright for sophomore Nancy Barba and Green for junior Brittany Ringel. Those two players brought in fresher legs to make key contributions in the rally effort, and the Bruins somehow managed to find a way to stifle the Bears, holding them to an anemic .094 hitting in the fourth.
They'll have to wait until Nov. 14 -- when the two teams meet in Pauley Pavilion -- until they can get another shot.
UCLA's perfect record against Cal continued on Friday, as the No. 11 Bruins (14-4, 6-3 Pac-10) upset the No. 5 Golden Bears (16-1, 7-1) with a 3-2 (30-22, 14-30, 24-30, 30-22, 15-12) victory at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. The victory extended UCLA's record against Cal to 43-0 all-time, salvaged a split on their most important road swing, and handed the Bears their first loss of the season.
"We've never lost to Cal and that's a lot of incentive right there," freshman outside hitter Becky Green said. "It was a must-win situation for us."
The Bears were fresh and ready to rumble, while the Bruins barely had their legs under them. Add to that the fact that Cal was undefeated on the year, and it seemed as though coach Andy Banachowski's perfect record was in severe jeopardy. But ultimately, it was UCLA's defense that overcame all odds, picking the Bruins up off the floor and leading the team to a critical victory.
Cal's offense, led by All-American Mia Jerkov, hit a paltry -.024 in the first game, by far their worst total of the season. But the Bears stormed back in games two and three, finding their rhythm and hitting .556 and .388 in those two games, respectively.
"We started out a little nervous, and looked a little tired from last night," Banachowski said. "We just did not have anything going in that second game and after the break we were still flat."
At that point, Banachowski made a few substitutions that seemed to turn the game back in UCLA's favor, replacing senior middle blocker Cira Wright for sophomore Nancy Barba and Green for junior Brittany Ringel. Those two players brought in fresher legs to make key contributions in the rally effort, and the Bruins somehow managed to find a way to stifle the Bears, holding them to an anemic .094 hitting in the fourth.