Middle blockers steer women’s volleyball back on track in Pac-12 play

The Bruins’ middle blockers are contributing in every aspect of the game.

After starting off the conference slate 0-3 against ranked teams, No. 23 UCLA women’s volleyball (13-8, 8-4 Pac-12) has pulled off five upsets over top-25 teams so far in Pac-12 play, including three in the last two weeks.

Junior outside hitter Mac May said UCLA’s two middle blockers – redshirt sophomores Emily Ryan and Sabrina Smith – have helped the Bruins get back on track with their ability to contribute on the attack and blocking.

She said the extra help from the blockers has helped the Bruins diversify where they take swings, preventing opponents from predicting where they should set up the block.

“It helps us because it pulls the blockers to the middle and away from us on the outside,” May said. “With our middle blockers attacking … it opens up the seam of the block.”

Ryan has become a consistent source of kills for the Bruins in the last few weeks, delivering a career-high 11 kills in three of UCLA’s last five games, including in its upsets of then-No. 2 Stanford and then-No. 15 California last weekend. In addition, Ryan has collected at least five blocks in five games during the Pac-12 slate.

Smith has also increased her workload over the course of the year, as she has participated in all but one set in Pac-12 play after playing in just under half of the sets during the nonconference schedule. Smith is averaging just under three blocks per Pac-12 match, also contributing 25 kills in that span.

“We’ve definitely improved on hitting, and hitting certain spots … and for blocking, we’ve really increased our power, we’ve really increased our volleyball IQ for blocking,” Ryan said. “I feel like last year, we’d get there, but it wasn’t effective enough, and with this season coming around, we’ve at least gotten a touch on almost every block.”

While the two blockers have been working in tandem to contribute both on defense and on the attack, May said the two have started to settle into different roles in the middle of the court.

“They definitely do play the same position, but they use it in two different ways,” May said. “(Smith’s) a great, solid block; she really works hard to get up and put up a huge block for our defense to work around. And (Ryan), I know, just loves to go up and bang the ball, so she really loves the attacking aspect of it, but also does a fantastic job blocking.”

Neither of the middle blockers had seen significant playing time before the 2019 campaign, as they had played a combined 10 matches in their first two years. Coach Michael Sealy said while the duo was still raw earlier in the season, the two had made big strides in their play in the last few weeks, which had a big impact on the team’s overall success in that span.

“We’ve played roughly 20 games now, so they’ve gotten a ton more experience now than when the season started,” Sealy said. “They’re doing well as far as following assignments and knowing where they need to be at the right time.”