Women’s volleyball travels north for weekend
Senior outside hitter Kaitlin Sather and sophomore libero Lainey Gera are two of the Bruins for whom the Bay Area road trip represents a homecoming of sorts.
By Farzad Mashhood
Oct. 30, 2009 2:32 a.m.
Call it a home trip.
The UCLA women’s volleyball team is in the Bay Area today and through the weekend to face California and Stanford, but for some players, the two matches are going to have the added element of being played near their hometowns.
Halfway through the Pac-10 season, the No. 11 Bruins (16-6, 6-3 Pac-10) will face the No. 14 Bears (12-7, 5-4) tonight in Berkeley and the No. 4 Cardinal (14-5, 7-2) in Palo Alto Saturday night. With the Bruins just one game out of first place, this weekend’s battle with Stanford, currently tied for first, and Cal, tied for fourth in the conference, will be an opportunity for each team to solidify its position in the standings.
For sophomores Amanda Gil and Lainey Gera, who played together in high school in San Jose, the road trip is more than a fight for positioning in the conference.
“I’m so excited. All my family is coming and all my friends from high school,” the middle blocker, Gil, said. “It’s going to be another great experience to play in my hometown.”
Redshirt senior opposite Kaitlin Sather, another Northern California native, is also highly anticipating her final trip to the Bay Area in her UCLA career.
“A lot of my friends and family come, so that will be so good for me to win when I go home.”
Sather added that, given Stanford’s 18-match winning streak against the Bruins, a road win against their stubborn foes will be especially beneficial.
“We have yet to beat Stanford since I’ve been here, and I’d love to get that under my belt before I leave,” she said.
For Gil, Gera, Sather and the rest of the Bruins, this weekend’s matches are more than an enjoyable time with friends and family.
It’s business.
“It’s one of the toughest road trips we have,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “We have to go up and play two really quality opponents and both of them have really good followings, so it’s a tough environment to play in.”
Earlier this season, the Bruins beat the Bears in four sets in Pauley Pavilion.
Now, with a more experienced team, UCLA is looking for another triumph over Cal, this time on the road.
“We’re coming together pretty well. We have a nice set rotation. We are developing depth,” Banachowski said. “We just have to develop some consistency, and it’s a matter of getting our young players some experience so they feel comfortable being able to execute.”
Freshmen such as outside hitters Bojana Todorovic, now a starter, Rachael Kidder and Mari Hole, and setter Lauren Cook, have been gaining significant playing time and steadily improving.
“I think we’re just a more developed team,” Sather said. “It took us a while to find a lineup where everyone is on the same page with and connecting with the new setter.”
Now on a three-match winning streak and having won five of their last six matches, the Bruins, Banachowski said, have shown they can compete with the best.
“I think that we have shown that we are a top caliber team, and I think that we recognize that we are young and have got a lot of room to keep getting better,” he said.
And with more and more chemistry among the starting seven, Sather added they are improving their position in the conference every weekend.
“Just the fact that we have been playing together longer makes us a way better team than when we started,” she said. “I think we’re being really competitive in the gym with each other which makes us even more competitive when we get out there in the competitions.”
