Player’s Diary

  Ella Harley is a redshirt freshman on
the women’s volleyball team, and one of two middle blockers
in the team’s regular rotation. Interview conducted by
Christina Teller, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.

This season has been fun because I redshirted last year and it
was really boring not being able to play. But I get to play now and
I don’t have to sit around. It’s been a good season to
have as my first because we’ve been doing really well, and we
have a good chance to win.

I’m excited about playing in the tournament; I’m not
really nervous. It’s just another game, and we have played
most of the top teams already this season. There’s nothing we
haven’t seen.

We’ve been talking about the tournament since we lost to
Penn State last year before the Final Four. Right after Penn State,
everyone worked really hard. Most everyone stayed during the summer
and made huge commitments to work hard.

We lost only one player from last year’s team, and now we
can only get better. We knew we were coming in in a really good
position this year, and we have a lot of confidence and work so
hard.

We’ve talked about other rounds than the first, but we are
going into each game thinking about that game because we have lost
to teams that we shouldn’t have, and we need to respect every
opponent, no matter what.

We expect to win against Morgan State, and I am confident, but
not to the point of thinking that they’re going to lose
““ they’re going to work hard, too. Every game could be
our last game, and after every game, I just want to know that I
gave it my all. That’s all I can really do. Even though
it’s always been my goal, it’s even more so now.

I get excited for big games and expect myself to play harder and
get bigger. You just jump higher. That’s one thing we always
say is “get bigger.” You can feel yourself get
bigger.

We just played in the Baylor tournament on the road, it’s
fun going on the road because you get to beat a team in their own
place. Our team feeds off of other team’s crowds. But the
worst part about going on the road is you kind of have a lot of
waiting. It’s good that our last match was on the road and we
played against a strong team.

We were at the Baylor tournament for Thanksgiving. It was fun,
but I’d rather go home. Since we couldn’t, it was nice
to be at a house and have food. It was nice to go to (assistant
coach) Kim’s (Jagd) house. If I couldn’t go home, then
I would want to spend it with the girls because we’re all
friends.

We are all very close. We like hanging out with each other on
and off the court, and I think we’re all really funny.
Everyone is very different and we mesh well together. We feed off
each other, but we get in trouble. Sometimes we’ll get the
coaches to crack smiles. They know the things that we think are
funny, and when they say them it’s even funnier. They usually
try to keep up the whole coach thing. They get frustrated with us
sometimes though.

Before every game, when we come into the middle to cheer, most
teams say “intensity” or “win,” but we
always say really funny things ““ inside jokes like
“drop the panties.” We always say that one. We always
seem business-like, but there’s always funny stuff. When
I’m up at the net, we’re always cracking jokes to keep
it light. We don’t talk trash. We just say it to each
other.

There are never fights on the team. There really aren’t
egos on the team. (Kristee) Porter is the best player, and she
doesn’t have an ego. Everyone is good. Even girls who
don’t play as much. It’s a team effort.

Everyone on the team is so competitive. We’re so hard on
ourselves and want to be perfect. I think it’s part of being
a UCLA volleyball player. You expect to be the best, and when you
do something wrong and when someone gets frustrated, you know
everyone is there for you. You know you’re not going to make
or break the game. It’s a nice feeling to know it goes both
ways.

This season has been fun, but it’s been painful in a way
because we’re so good and we’ve done dumb things and
lost stupid games. It’s frustrating because we know how good
we are, and it hurts when you lose games you shouldn’t. But
it’s been fun, and I’m excited because a lot of
opportunities are up ahead for us.