Women’s volleyball looks to repeat defeat of Cal, Stanford in upcoming rematches

The Bruins are headed to the Bay Area for a rematch with two ranked Pac-12 rivals.

UCLA women’s volleyball (13-10, 8-6 Pac-12) will face No. 20 California (20-4, 10-4) on Friday and No. 4 Stanford (18-4, 12-2) on Sunday, two teams the Bruins have already defeated earlier this season.

The Bruins upset the then-No. 2 Cardinal in straight sets on Oct. 25 and doubled down with a 3-1 upset of the then-No. 15 Golden Bears two days later. After the two victories, UCLA moved into the top 25 for the first time this fall.

However, following a three-set victory at then-No. 22 Washington State, UCLA has lost three in a row and has dropped from its ranked status.

Against ranked Pac-12 opponents this season, UCLA has posted a 5-4 record. Four of those victories, however, have come at home – including the aforementioned wins over Cal and Stanford.

This time, the Bruins are playing on the road, where the team has a 4-6 overall record.

“It’s definitely harder playing in the other team’s gym,” said junior outside hitter Mac May. “Getting back to our level of play and not letting that affect us, creating our own energy and not worrying about what the crowd gives off, I think would be a big thing for us.”

May led the team with 21 kills in UCLA’s last game versus Cal, including three kills to begin the opening set. The Bruins took a 5-0 lead and led by four or more points throughout the set, winning the opening frame en route to a four-set victory.

“It’s always important (to start fast),” said coach Michael Sealy. “Volleyball is a game of runs. Anytime you can start with a 5-0 run, it obviously gives you a good starting point, good momentum.”

Redshirt freshman outside hitter Lexi Hadrych was one of four UCLA players with double-digit kills against Cal and one of three against Stanford. She stressed the importance of running an offense with a democratic distribution of kill opportunities.

“It helps spread the block as much as we can, which makes everybody get more kills,” Hadrych said.

Cal ranks first in the Pac-12 in hitting percentage, but in the Bruins’ match versus the Bears, UCLA outhit them .300 to .257.

UCLA’s Sunday opponent, Stanford, will be sporting a different lineup, as two-time AVCA National Player of the Year outside hitter Kathryn Plummer will be back on the court. Plummer missed the last matchup with the Bruins because of injury, one of 10 Pac-12 games she had to sit out.

In her second game back – a sweep of unranked Arizona on Saturday – Plummer led the Cardinal with 15 kills.

“It’s going to be different personnel because their best player is now back in the lineup,” Sealy said. “Who they’re going to set and where is going to change. It will be different distributions, so we got to figure that out as the match starts.”

The Cardinal entered their previous matchup against the Bruins on a six-game winning streak, and since the loss, they’ve recovered and have proceeded to rattle off five consecutive wins.

“I think we’ve just got to keep our energy high,” Hadrych said. “As long as we do that, we can control (Stanford’s momentum) and just keep going.”