Bruins hope to alleviate sting of loss
By Daily Bruin Staff
Sept. 27, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 CATHERINE JUN/Daily Bruin Senior Staff Sophomore
Erika Selsor sets the ball in a loss to USC last
week.
By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Reporter
With No. 3 Arizona (7-0, 2-0 Pac-10) in town, it won’t be
a day at the beach for UCLA, but the people in the Morgan Center
will try their best to make it look like one.
In a rare promotion, the first 500 fans into Pauley Pavilion
Friday at 7 p.m. will receive beach chairs, and an undisclosed
number of fans will be invited to sit courtside for the match.
But after coming off defeats to top-ranked Nebraska and
crosstown rival USC, both on the road, the Bruins (5-2, 0-1)
aren’t riding high.
“I think we’re a little stung right now,” UCLA
head coach Andy Banachowski said.
Senior setter Erika Selsor, however, holds optimism about the
overall start the team has had.
“The majority of this team has been around, and
we’ve suffered some seasons that have been a lot worse at the
start,” she said.
In Selsor’s freshman season, the Bruins got off to a
terrible start, losing their first six matches before notching
their first victory.
The question lingers for UCLA at the middle blocker position,
one where the Wildcats, like the Trojans last Friday, have a
decided advantage.
Junior Stefani Saragosa leads Arizona in total blocks with 31.
While UCLA junior Angela Eckmier, the middle blocker Banachowski
has cited as the team’s most consistent, does lead the Bruins
in that category, she fails to compare with Saragosa.
“We really need to get more consistent and more solid at
that position all the way around,” Banachowski said.
Banachowski chose the setter position as Arizona’s
strongest spot on the court. Fortunately for the Bruins, Selsor
will provide a formidable opponent for Arizona’s Dana
Burkholder. Selsor has an edge of almost two assists per game over
the Wildcat senior, leading in total assists 318-280.
But with the highly-touted Wildcats come their rivals, the
less-heralded Arizona State Sun Devils (5-4, 1-1), on Saturday at 7
p.m.
Despite Arizona’s current superiority in rank over the
Bruins, history both recent and not so recent favors the Bruins
over both Arizona schools. UCLA leads the Arizona series 40-8,
winning five of the last seven. The Bruins lead against ASU 45-5
overall and haven’t lost to the Sun Devils since 1995.
