Women’s volleyball looks for better control in upcoming Pac-12 games

The last two weeks have not been great for the women’s volleyball team, which has come up short in its first two battles against top-ranked competition.

But aside from the recent losses to No. 1 USC and No. 6 Washington, No. 12 UCLA (11-3, 2-2 Pac-12) has looked promising, showing that it can dominate inferior competition.

Now the Bruins will look to carry momentum from their straight-set victory over the Washington State Cougars when they hit the road to take on the unranked Utah Utes (7-8, 1-3) and Colorado Buffaloes (10-6, 2-2).

“We are definitely good enough. We have all the pieces, we have all the physical and mental awareness and those types of things that can get us competing for a national championship,” said redshirt junior outside hitter Haley Lawless. “It’s when we try to force things that are outside of control and that sort of thing is when we find issues.”

As Lawless said, the Bruins’ Achilles’ heel has been trying to do too much, straying outside of their comfort zone, according to coach Michael Sealy.

The team’s mental awareness when they are on the court is what needs to improve, Sealy said.

“We can keep talking about it (staying within themselves), but ultimately it is going to be up to them to recognize that it is happening and make the choice not to try and do too much,” Sealy said. “The old adage is that you can lead them to water, but you can’t make them drink. We are going to keep doing what we are doing and guiding in certain directions, but it is going to be up to them to maintain composure.”

The Bruins will have to focus on improving between each match, Sealy said.

“After each game we are walking out with something we need to work on. One game it may be coming together every time and keeping our communication open, then we are focusing on that the next day. And if it’s a certain type of attacking, then we will work on that,” said junior outside hitter Claire Felix. “Honestly, just making practice a game-like situation will keep us going up instead of plateauing.”

The Bruins’ offense will face a tough test Sunday as they will be going up against reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week Cierra Simpson and the Buffaloes. Simpson had 43 digs over two matches in the previous weekend, including a career-high of 29 digs in the matchup against Oregon.

“She’s going to get her great plays,” Felix said. “But our great plays are just going to have to outnumber it. That’s our goal.”