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Amy’s Angle: Women’s volleyball seals the deal on a season of struggle

Coach Michael Sealy watches his team between a point. Sealy led the Bruins to a national championship his second year, but has been unable to replicate that postseason success in recent years. 2022 marks the third time in program history that the team hasn’t made the NCAA championships. (Bryan Palmero/Daily Bruin senior staff)

By Amelie Ionescu

Nov. 30, 2022 10:41 p.m.

Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the AP’s preseason poll ranked the Bruins No. 12. In fact, it was the AVCA preseason poll that ranked the Bruins No. 12.

This post was updated May 11 at 9:47 p.m.

No one could have predicted the 2022 season for UCLA women’s volleyball.

Definitely not the AVCA preseason poll, which ranked the Bruins as the No. 12 team in the nation.

Nor myself, who predicted a fourth-round appearance at the NCAA tournament.

And then, UCLA had its worst start to a season in program history.

Despite an injury- and illness-plagued preseason and a squad full of new arrivals, there was hope for the Bruins. Things were looking up with a sweep of the Outrigger Volleyball Tournament in early September after split matches at Utah State. But before the blue and gold could even see conference play, it lost again to an unranked opponent and dropped out of the coaches’ poll.

By the midway point of the season, the squad hit its worst losing streak in half a decade. And even after picking up three wins in a row, the Bruins just couldn’t string their season back together.

As a result, for the third time in coach Michael Sealy’s 13-year tenure, UCLA missed out on an NCAA tournament appearance.

A national title, four Sweet 16 runs and multiple second-place finishes in the conference sounds productive for a coach’s tenure. But looking through the history of UCLA’s program, it’s really not.

Former coach Andy Banachowski collected a record of 1,106-301 since 1965, guiding the program to six national championships – including three of the Bruins’ four NCAA titles – and 11 Final Fours from 1981-2009.

That is the legacy of UCLA women’s volleyball.

And that is why three missed NCAA tournament appearances – the only three in program history – is unacceptable.

The Bruins’ program needs a change. 2019 proved that adding new assistant coaches wasn’t the answer. UCLA simply isn’t recruiting, coaching or playing the way it once used to.

(Alex Driscoll/Daily Bruin staff)
The team shakes hands with the opposing squad on the court after a loss. (Alex Driscoll/Daily Bruin staff)

Despite drawing names such as outside hitter/opposite élan McCall and setter Matti McKissock from the transfer portal, the blue and gold missed out on recruiting outside hitter Skylar Fields, who wound up with crosstown rival USC. While McCall gathered her second Pac-12 Honorable Mention in a row and McKissock proved a vital life force to the UCLA offense, Fields would have bolstered what has been an inconsistent attack.

And nothing guarantees that trend won’t continue as players seek different programs to better suit their desires.

The root of the problem has been disguised by standout players such as former outside hitter/opposite Mac May and former defensive specialist/libero Taylor Formico. But in recent years, it’s been harder and harder for the program to replicate the success of the past.

Former associate head coach Brad Keller helped lead a previously sub-.500 team to a second-round appearance in the NCAA tournament and a sweep of then-No. 2 Stanford before he departed to take the helm of a USC program that went from unremarkable 2020 and 2021 seasons to a solid 2022 showing. UCLA needs someone to do the same.

Sealy needs to make a change.

McCall notched 11 double-doubles in 2022, ranking second on the team with 286 digs and first in kills with 312, while redshirt junior middle blocker Anna Dodson followed up her breakout season by averaging 2.54 kills per set, with a team-high .330 hitting percentage. Dodson’s performance, including her first career double-double, secured All-Pac-12 honors for the second year in a row.

But with McCall’s eligibility run dry and Dodson’s return remaining a question mark, the Bruins are relying on Pac-12 All-Freshman team member Grayce Olson, sophomore Charitie Luper and junior Iman Ndiaye to succeed at the outside hitter/opposite position. Although the latter two players earned All-Pac-12 Honorable Mentions, neither of them individually hold the firepower of May or Fields – who secured All-American First and Third Team honors, respectively.

Offensively, UCLA needs a consistent base for its hitters. Setter Mokihana Tufono has proved a strong server, tying a program-high number of aces in one match. But the freshman doesn’t have enough experience under her belt to set the Bruins up for success. Meanwhile, junior Kate Lane took on a quick spurt as hitter against USC, seeing playing time as a setter in only 54 sets. With McKissock not coming back, the Bruins need a solid replacement.

Through the Bruins’ 2021 season, the back row was held down by McCall and former defensive specialist/libero Zoe Fleck. With the loss of Fleck, the defense struggled in 2022, and with McCall departing – alongside current graduate student defensive specialist/libero Mackenzie Cole – the Bruins will once again need some added talent to hold defensively in 2023.

If the recruits don’t come in, and someone doesn’t step up, the Bruins will continue to struggle.

A deep history of success surrounds this program. UCLA used to be an established name in volleyball, but in recent years, success has been a blip on the horizon.

This season sealed the deal. Change must happen to bring the blue and gold back into the national conversation.

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Amelie Ionescu | Sports senior staff
Ionescu was previously an assistant Sports editor on the men's volleyball, women's volleyball, swim and dive and rowing beats, and a contributor on the women's tennis beat.
Ionescu was previously an assistant Sports editor on the men's volleyball, women's volleyball, swim and dive and rowing beats, and a contributor on the women's tennis beat.
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