Senior steps up as team leader

One of the biggest concerns for UCLA women’s soccer coach
Jill Ellis going into the season was how the Bruin defense would
respond without three quarters of its starting back line from the
year before.

By midseason, Ellis no longer had to worry. Though UCLA lost
defenders Nandi Pryce and Kat Lee to graduation and Mary
Castelanelli to a debilitating back injury, senior Kendal
Billingsley was there to pick up the slack.

Billingsley, who took over for the All-American Pryce as central
defender, was a stabilizing force for the Bruins all season,
helping the team to its second consecutive appearance in the NCAA
College Cup.

The 5-foot-9 Billingsley was rock solid on defense, rarely
allowing opposing forwards to get behind her and almost never
making a bad decision with the ball. She also scored a career-high
five goals for the Bruins including a hat trick in a 6-0 thumping
of Oregon.

In fact, she was the team’s third-leading scorer despite
taking only 15 shots on the year.

But where Billingsley showed the most improvement this season
was as a team leader.

It was she who helped supplant the vocal Pryce as the leader of
the defense, and it was she who helped the team regain its focus
after an uncharacteristic late-season slump.

During the Bruins’ playoff run, in fact, Billingsley
helped the defense hold five consecutive teams to shutouts,
including victories over top-ranked teams Princeton and Ohio
State.

In the Princeton game, the Bruin defense and Billingsley held
20-goal scorer Esmerelda Negron without a shot on goal.

Though Billingsley’s career ended in disappointment with a
missed penalty kick in the NCAA Championship match against Notre
Dame, the miscue does not detract from her accomplishments as a
senior. She helped the Bruins reach the NCAA College Cup after a
regular season in which the Bruins lost three of their past six
games.

Compiled by Jeff Eisenberg, Bruin Sports senior
staff.