Post by rubyredslippers on Oct 17, 2006 22:18:23 GMT -5
THE DAILY BRUIN ONLINE 10/17/2006
Volleyball re-energized by loss to Cardinal
Team already back on their feet after breaking 21-match winning streak
ANDREW HSIEH/daily bruin senior staff
Senior Katie Carter and the No. 4 Bruins are looking to bounce back this week against No. 5 USC.
By Allison Ho
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
aho@media.ucla.edu
Almost as soon as its winning streak was broken, the women's volleyball team had already begun picking up the pieces.
The loss to then-No. 6 Stanford on Friday was the first in UCLA's 21 matches this season, but the team is looking at it in only a positive light. After all, there is nothing better to learn from than one's own mistakes.
"I think it's hard losing, but it also makes us human," middle blocker Nana Meriwether said. "Sometimes you can't be perfect.
"But now we're so much more intense and we're so much more ready to work in the gym."
"It wasn't really that important to us to keep our record unblemished at all," coach Andy Banachowski said.
While not giving significant weight to being unbeatable, Banachowski did, however, want to keep the Pac-10 race as close as possible, especially with five of the 10 teams in the conference ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
"I don't think anyone expected to come out of the conference undefeated," Banachowski said. "That's why this loss was so disappointing. It gives Stanford an advantage in the standings."
And if there was anything good about this loss, it was that it came early enough in the season for the Bruins to recover from and improve upon it. Whereas, if the Bruins had gone undefeated deep into the season, the pressure to stay invincible might have been excruciating; they would have had an even larger target on their backs; and they would have had little time to recuperate.
"It's really not safe to go into the tournament undefeated because you're bound to lose a game," outside hitter Katie Carter said. "I'm glad that we got this out of the way now because we have a lot more time to improve and to work harder."
"It's a relief. I mean nobody wants to lose, but we know that that's gone and out of here, so good. It was a good wake-up call."
The Bruins will use this loss as one of their biggest motivational tests as they head into the second half of the season. And it will soon be seen how they will bounce back against cross-town rival No. 5 USC this Friday.
"We lost a game, but so did 'SC," Carter said. "They lost last night too. We lost in five; they lost in three. So things like that, we just latch onto to make ourselves feel better."
"This is really a push because none of us wants to feel like this at the end of the season," Meriwether said. "We know the feeling, and we don't want it, so it'll push us to work harder."
RANKING FALLS: After its first loss of the season to then-ranked No. 6 Stanford, UCLA dropped one spot to No. 4 in the AVCA Coaches Poll on Monday. Meanwhile, the Cardinal leapfrogged both UCLA and USC after sweeping the L.A. schools this weekend and is now at No. 3.
The matchup between the Bruins and the Trojans will still be a battle between two of the top-five teams in the nation as USC fell a spot to No. 5.
Volleyball re-energized by loss to Cardinal
Team already back on their feet after breaking 21-match winning streak
ANDREW HSIEH/daily bruin senior staff
Senior Katie Carter and the No. 4 Bruins are looking to bounce back this week against No. 5 USC.
By Allison Ho
DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR
aho@media.ucla.edu
Almost as soon as its winning streak was broken, the women's volleyball team had already begun picking up the pieces.
The loss to then-No. 6 Stanford on Friday was the first in UCLA's 21 matches this season, but the team is looking at it in only a positive light. After all, there is nothing better to learn from than one's own mistakes.
"I think it's hard losing, but it also makes us human," middle blocker Nana Meriwether said. "Sometimes you can't be perfect.
"But now we're so much more intense and we're so much more ready to work in the gym."
"It wasn't really that important to us to keep our record unblemished at all," coach Andy Banachowski said.
While not giving significant weight to being unbeatable, Banachowski did, however, want to keep the Pac-10 race as close as possible, especially with five of the 10 teams in the conference ranked in the top 10 in the nation.
"I don't think anyone expected to come out of the conference undefeated," Banachowski said. "That's why this loss was so disappointing. It gives Stanford an advantage in the standings."
And if there was anything good about this loss, it was that it came early enough in the season for the Bruins to recover from and improve upon it. Whereas, if the Bruins had gone undefeated deep into the season, the pressure to stay invincible might have been excruciating; they would have had an even larger target on their backs; and they would have had little time to recuperate.
"It's really not safe to go into the tournament undefeated because you're bound to lose a game," outside hitter Katie Carter said. "I'm glad that we got this out of the way now because we have a lot more time to improve and to work harder."
"It's a relief. I mean nobody wants to lose, but we know that that's gone and out of here, so good. It was a good wake-up call."
The Bruins will use this loss as one of their biggest motivational tests as they head into the second half of the season. And it will soon be seen how they will bounce back against cross-town rival No. 5 USC this Friday.
"We lost a game, but so did 'SC," Carter said. "They lost last night too. We lost in five; they lost in three. So things like that, we just latch onto to make ourselves feel better."
"This is really a push because none of us wants to feel like this at the end of the season," Meriwether said. "We know the feeling, and we don't want it, so it'll push us to work harder."
RANKING FALLS: After its first loss of the season to then-ranked No. 6 Stanford, UCLA dropped one spot to No. 4 in the AVCA Coaches Poll on Monday. Meanwhile, the Cardinal leapfrogged both UCLA and USC after sweeping the L.A. schools this weekend and is now at No. 3.
The matchup between the Bruins and the Trojans will still be a battle between two of the top-five teams in the nation as USC fell a spot to No. 5.