Women’s volleyball to face top NorCal teams, California and Stanford
After upsetting Cal and Stanford at home this September, senior setter Lauren Van Orden and the women’s volleyball team will try their luck again against the Bears and the Cardinal on the road this weekend.
By Patricia Lee
Oct. 28, 2011 12:39 a.m.
Just one year ago, the UCLA women’s volleyball team stunned the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, Stanford, in Westwood.
One month ago, they upset then-No. 2 Stanford again at home.
And if that wasn’t enough, it served an encore performance for the UCLA fans by beating No. 1 California the very next day.
It is evident that the Bruins are not afraid to go up against the top teams in the nation.
But come this weekend, the team will have to prove its fearlessness again when it goes on the road to Northern California.
This evening, the No. 6 Bruins (18-3, 11-2 Pac-12) will go to Berkeley to play No. 2 California (21-2, 11-2), the first-place team in the Pac-12.
The Bruins beat California in four sets in September.
If that task was not difficult enough, the next day the Bruins travel to Palo Alto to play No. 5 Stanford (16-3, 10-3).
The weekend will be a battle for the top spots in the competitive conference.
The game the UCLA team won a year ago against Stanford is senior setter Lauren Van Orden’s favorite memory as a Bruin, as it established her talent for her then-new school to see.
But she cannot dwell on those memories. It is a new year.
“What is important right now is getting better day by day and doing the best that we can match by match,” Van Orden said.
Though the Bruins are up against the top teams in the nation, they treat this weekend as if they are playing any other team in the country.
“We try to prepare for every team the same way,” Van Orden said.
“We have to treat everybody with the same respect and the same work ethic. The way we play on weekends does not determine how hard we practice during the week.”
The Bruins put in hours at the gym practicing and doing weights, just like they would any other week of the year.
“We’re working hard every day and getting stuff done,” sophomore outside hitter Kelly Reeves said.
“We just have to carry the work over to the weekend.”
Undefeated at home, all three of the Bruins’ losses have come on the road, making this weekend an even bigger challenge for the women’s volleyball team.
“They’re both tough places to play,” coach Mike Sealy said of the gyms at California and Stanford. “Cal’s gym is especially loud and really aggressive.”
“It’ll be fun playing at these other venues,” Van Orden said.
“We can get a sense of who they are in their own gym and the atmosphere of their own students.”
Sure, the Bruins beat both the Cardinal and Bears once this year already, but that is in the past.
For its future to hold two more crucial conference wins, the team will have to bring its best two nights in a row, a tall order for any team.
