Unseeded UCLA women’s volleyball begins NCAA Tournament against American

The UCLA women’s volleyball team is entering the postseason injured, undersized and unseeded.

After maintaining a top-25 ranking for the regular season, the No. 9 Bruins (21-8, 11-7 Pac-10) found out Sunday that they did not earn one of the top 16 seeds for the 2010 NCAA Tournament, the first time since 2002 that they have been left out of the top 16.

UCLA finished its regular season without junior middle blocker Katie Camp, who suffered a season-ending knee injury against Oregon on Nov. 19.

At 6 foot 4 inches, Camp served as the tallest member of a Bruin middle blocking unit that has had trouble matching up against taller opponents, most recently in Friday’s five-set loss to USC.

Camp’s absence has coach Mike Sealy’s roster looking more like a revolving door, with players coming and going at different positions. Freshman Mariana Aquino and junior Sara Sage have been called upon to fill Camp’s shoes.

The Bruins’ situation going into the postseason is not exactly ideal, but junior libero Lainey Gera would not have it any other way.

“I honestly don’t think seeding is that big of a deal. … Teams kind of underestimate us, and I think that’s great, because then, we can come in and beat them, hopefully,” Gera said. “I personally love it, because it just brings more fire to you.”

Because they are unseeded, the Bruins are in the same bracket as ninth-seeded Texas (23-5, 18-2 Big 12). If the Bruins and Longhorns win their Friday matches, they will face each other on Saturday.

But before worrying about Texas, UCLA will have to get past American University on Friday. The Eagles finished the regular season with a 29-2 record and went a perfect 14-0 in the Patriot League to earn a berth in the tournament. They boast the country’s fifth-best hitting percentage, with a .300 clip.

“(The Eagles) obviously do some things well,” Sealy said. “It doesn’t matter how strong or weak their league is. We’ve just got to do what we do; it doesn’t really matter who we’re playing from here on out. You just have to be yourself in the tournament. It’s all you can do.”

All season long, Sealy has discussed how his team lacks energy in practice, and he still thinks so.

“We’re a terrible practice team … but it doesn’t affect the way we play on the weekends,” Sealy said. “So it’s frustrating for me to watch our practice, and then come in here and watch Texas’ video because it looks like a 16-year-old club team going against a professional team. But I can’t read too much into that, because we are a better match team than we are a practice team.”

If the “16-year-old” team shows up, the Bruins’ season could end early, but freshman outside hitter Kelly Reeves knows what it’s going to take to extend the run.

“We just have to take games set by set … just being smart and having fire and just taking control of the match, and … pounce on these teams,” Reeves said.