Bruins overcome ghosts of last year’s loss
By Daily Bruin Staff
Oct. 7, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MIKE CHIEN Senior Kristee Porter goes in
for the kill in last week’s match against Arizona. The Bruins
recently defeated Washington State. UCLA d. WSU
30-24, 30-21,30-22
By Christina Teller
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
The No. 5 UCLA women’s volleyball team went into Friday
night’s game against Washington State with one goal in mind:
to prove last year’s loss to the Cougars was an anomaly.
“We had somewhat a sense of determination, and I
don’t want to exactly say that it was revenge, but we wanted
to set things right,” UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski
said.
The Bruins (9-2, 4-1 Pac-10) wasted no time doing so as they
defeated the Cougars (7-6, 2-4) in three games, 30-24, 30-21,
30-22.
The fact that the Cougars featured the same starting lineup that
defeated UCLA in 2000, which essentially took the Bruins out of the
running for the Pac-10 crown, was an extra incentive for the
Bruins’ cause.
Washington State’s gym is one of the Pac-10’s
toughest to play in, but the Cougar faithful did not seem to be a
factor in the match as UCLA remained focused and played
consistently well through all three games.
Washington State, a team that lost in three games to No. 3 USC
on Thursday, did not put up much of a fight against UCLA, finishing
with a .184 hitting percentage and never leading in a game beyond
the initial point.
“I thought after last night we would come out with a lot
more spirit than we did and a lot more wanting to take care of
things,” said Washington State head coach Cindy Frederick.
“UCLA came in with a real different attitude, just a
take-care-of-business attitude, and we’re still playing
not-very-smart volleyball right now.”
UCLA got a strong performance from junior middle blocker Angela
Eckmier for the second night in a row. Eckmier registered two solo
blocks and five block assists along with her 10 kills and .667
hitting clip.
Three other Bruins tallied kills in the double digits: senior
outside hitter Kristee Porter (13), sophomore outside hitter Lauren
Fendrick (13) and senior outside hitter Ashley Bowles (10).
“Overall I think we really felt comfortable with our style
of play throughout the weekend,” Banachowski said.
“It’s a tough weekend because you have to travel across
state for second night.
“Afterwards it was like “˜we got it done.’ We
came up to get two wins and did it in good style,”
Banachowski continued.
The Bruins are at home for their next three games, as they host
Stanford and Cal this weekend and USC the following week.
