Bruins next for undefeated Huskies

By Ben Miller

Oct 13, 2005, 12:00 AM

In three tries last season, the Washington women's volleyball squad came out with three wins against UCLA. It was a change of roles for the UW against UCLA. Those three victories symbolized the change in success for the Huskies. They had lost 11 of the previous 12 matches against the Bruins. In fact, the last of those three matches was the win that sent the UW to its first Final Four appearance in program history. Coming off of a sweep of the Bay Area schools last weekend, Washington (14-0 overall, 5-0 Pac-10) faces another tough slate of games this weekend at home against No. 22 UCLA and No. 17 USC. The threat of a letdown game after last Saturday's win over third-ranked Stanford is something that concerns coach Jim McLaughlin a little bit. "For the most part in the past we haven't ever been affected by that, but sure that's something you're concerned about," he said. "I think the maturity of this team will allow us to keep getting better and stay on task, and I think we should be able to do that." The Bruins (9-5, 2-3) swept both Oregon and Oregon State last weekend, a pair of wins that ended a losing streak of four games. UCLA will be trying to beat a ranked team for the first time this season against the UW. "They lost a lot of good players [last year]," McLaughlin said. "But UCLA always has good players and they're talented from what I've seen so far. [UCLA coach] Andy [Banachowski] is a great coach, he knows what he's doing, and he'll get the pieces in place." Each of the Bruins' five losses this season have come against teams ranked in the CSTV/AVCA top 25 poll. Leading the Bruins attack are Kaitlin Sather and Nana Meriwether who place first and second on the team with 4.04 and 3.24 kills per game respectively. Meriwether, also heads the UCLA defensive unit as she leads the Pac-10 with 1.78 blocks per game. "She is one of the most physical players in the Pac-10," McLaughlin said about the UCLA middle blocker. The Huskies, however, are not without their own all-around threat going into the weekend. Sanja Tomasevic enters the weekend as the reigning nation and Pac-10 player of the week due to her performance against Cal and Stanford last weekend. It is the second time in Tomasevic's career she has been named as national player of the week and it is her fourth time honored in the Pac-10. The senior set season highs for herself in the five-game match against Cal as she racked up 25 kills and 18 digs in the win. The watch of undefeated teams this season sits at four with top-ranked Nebraska ahead of the pack, followed by Washington, No. 6 Louisville and No. 16 BYU. "I think we've been practicing well, and I think we continue to improve," McLaughlin said. "It doesn't matter if you've won or lost, you just have to keep getting better, stay in the present, and that's what we're going to do, stay on course."

Stay up to Date

Subscribe to our weekly newsletters covering the news, arts, and sports.

Bruins next for undefeated Huskies

Disruptor interrupts Psych 210, professor and students chase man on to Red Square

2025 Seattle and King County primary election endorsements

UW mechanical engineering students are now required to pay $250 quarterly fee to participate in department-affiliated RSOs

College Inn Pub reopens under new ownership