W. volleyball: Last chance for seniors against USC

There is only one current member of the UCLA women’s
volleyball team that has ever contributed to a victory over
USC.

As a freshman, setter Krystal McFarland saw her Bruins defeat
the Trojans in 2000. Now, as a redshirt senior, McFarland has one
last chance to help lead the team to a victory over its crosstown
rival. For the four other seniors on the squad, Friday
night’s home match is likely to be their final shot to upset
a team that has been their ultimate nemesis.

“That would be just the greatest way to finish,”
McFarland said. “We’ve got a lot of seniors on this
team that haven’t beaten (USC). It’s a really big match
for us, so we’re so excited to be at home with our
fans.”

Barring the possibility that the teams face each other in the
NCAA tournament, seniors Heather Cullen, Brynn Murphy, Brittany
Ringel and Chrissie Zartman have only this sole opportunity left to
finally get a victory over the Trojans.

And although there’s a great deal at stake Friday night,
nothing is more important than pride. USC has won the last seven
meetings between the two teams, including a victory in the
quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament last year.

“We deserve it,” Murphy said. “With all the
work we’ve put in this week we deserve to win. It’s
going to come if we just play our best.”

The matchup is an intriguing one. Sixth-ranked USC (15-4, 10-3
Pac-10) was manhandled by Stanford in a 3-0 loss its last time out
on the court, whereas the No. 16 Bruins (15-8, 8-5) are coming off
an emotional five-game victory over California.

As their loss to Stanford suggests, the Trojans are no longer
the invincible force they were for the past two years, when they
mowed down opponents one after another en route to claiming two
consecutive NCAA championships. Perhaps most promisingly, the
Bruins have had a full week of practice working with a consistent
lineup for the first time nearly all season, due to improved health
on the team in recent weeks.

If ever there was a chance for the underdog Bruins to pull out a
win, this would be it.

“You can be beat on any given night,” coach Andy
Banachowski said. “They’re playing well, and
we’ve got to step up to that level to be able to put some
pressure on them.”

But in order to put any semblance of pressure on USC, UCLA must
clean up its service game. The Bruins had a ghastly total of 26
service errors against Cal and Stanford, and a tough service game
will be critical in order to beat the Trojans. The strength of this
USC team lies in its middle blocking, with 6-foot-6-inch senior
Emily Adams, 6-foot-5-inch junior Bibiana Candelas, and especially
two-time Final Four MVP senior Keao Burdine.

In order to neutralize the Trojans’ size advantage in the
block, the Bruins must execute in one area in particular.

“Everyone’s got to serve tough and serve in,”
Banachowski said. “We had a tremendous amount of service
errors last week and we can’t afford to give away free points
to a team that good.”

In fact, when the team resumed practice Monday, Banachowski
emphasized his point by having them run Janss steps.

“We had a little Janss steps punishment for missing so
many serves, so that’s definitely stuck in our minds. I think
we’ll do really well this weekend,” McFarland said.

The Bruins may not have to play a perfect game in order to beat
the Trojans, as they would have had to do in the past. But USC is
still a tremendously dangerous team, and one that is eagerly
awaiting its chance to hand UCLA another loss. For the Bruin
seniors, this may be their last and ultimately best chance to
celebrate a win over their rival.

“It’s our turn now,” Murphy said.