Bruins hope to make Penn quake
By Daily Bruin Staff
Nov. 29, 2001 9:00 p.m.
 MERCEDES DORAME Senior outside hitter Ashley
Bowles spikes the ball against Washington State earlier
this season.
By Andrew Borders
Daily Bruin Reporter
Coming from an Ivy League school like Penn might help
one’s résumé, but it doesn’t mean much on the
volleyball court.
“I don’t know anything about Penn,” UCLA head
coach Andy Banachowski said.
This is, after all, Penn’s first tournament
appearance.
The Quakers are the first-round opponents in the NCAA Tournament
for No. 14 UCLA on Friday. And while they are 18-4 and Ivy League
champions, Penn hasn’t played a currently-ranked team all
year.
To make matters worse, the Bruins will receive an extra boost
with the return of senior outside hitter Kristee Porter, who missed
an extended period of time due to an “extra benefits”
infraction.
“I was disappointed to hear that Porter was coming
back,” Penn head coach Kerry Major said, half-jokingly.
The Bruins (18-8), however, have faced seven ranked teams in 11
matches.
So, on paper, with Porter back in the lineup, the Bruins ought
to look ahead to the second round, a probable match against No. 16
Penn State (21-7) on Saturday.
Right?
“We’re not looking ahead to Penn State, we’re
not looking ahead to regionals, we’re just focusing on the
first match at hand,” senior outside hitter Ashley Bowles
said.
“You look over anybody and you’re gone,”
senior setter Erika Selsor added.
OK, but if the Bruins dispense of Penn, revenge will be on
UCLA’s mind. In the 1999 tournament, UCLA advanced to the
Elite Eight and faced the Nittany Lions, only to be defeated and
have the championship drought stretch to eight years.
“Our seniors remember that,” UCLA head coach Andy
Banachowski said, saying it would be a motivating factor should the
two teams meet.
“It’s always a pleasure to host UCLA,” Penn
State head coach Russ Rose said.
The Bruins hope that the pleasure will be all theirs. A win
would result in a third-straight Sweet 16 appearance, possibly in
the close-to-home confines of the Pyramid, the stomping grounds of
top-ranked Long Beach State.
With reports from Diamond Leung, Daily Bruin Senior Staff.
