In the world of volleyball, the Pacific-10 Conference reigns supreme. The Stanfords, Southern Californias and Arizonas annually defeat the best-of-the-best in the nation, but when it comes down to conference play, matches can get downright nasty.
That’s exactly what happened when Stanford (14-2 overall, 7-1 Pac-10) traveled south to take on UCLA and USC last week.
The Cardinal, ranked fourth in the nation at the outset of both matches, took a 6-0 conference record with them. USC (12-1, 7-0), on the other hand, was ranked one better at No. 3, but was also undefeated at 5-0. At the same token, UCLA (10-3, 5-2) was at No. 5, having gone 4-1 in conference play.
Now only USC is undefeated.
After outlasting Stanford in four games (28-30, 30-28, 30-22, 30-26) on Friday, the Trojans swept the California Golden Bears (5-9, 1-7), 30-25, 30-26, 30-19.
Leading the women of Troy was defensive specialist Nicole Davis, who notched seven service aces against Stanford.
“Davis is good,” USC head coach Mick Haley told the Daily Trojan. “She’s a big-time player and she can bring the heat.”
After losing the first set in a match attended by standing-room-only crowd of 1,205 at Lyon Center, the Trojans came back strong and fixed the problems that plagued them in the first game.
“I told them they were too interested in winning and not interested enough in executing,” Haley said. “We set the left side a lot in a row and we got out of rhythm running the middle, then they clamped us a couple of times and I just really wanted them to play first-ball sideout. That game was ours to win, not Stanford’s to lose.”
Strong words from the USC coach, but after seven Pac-10 matches, the Trojans stand in first place, one half-game ahead of Stanford, who is now 7-1 after defeating UCLA in five Thursday night.
Although the Bruins took a hard loss that night (27-30, 25-30, 30-27, 30-24, 15-13) after starting off strong, UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski knew the importance of the play he had just seen. After all, it was a spirited contest between two teams in the top five.
“It was two heavyweights going after each other out there,” he told the Daily Bruin. “I certainly had the best seat in the house.”
With two matches left for most teams in the first-half, USC is in first, followed closely by Stanford, Oregon State (12-4, 5-2) and UCLA.
Milestone killin’
With 21 kills last week against Oregon State and Idaho State, senior Monique Tobbagi is now four kills away from 1,000 for her career. If she plays against Arizona on Thursday at McArthur Court, she will most assuredly hit that mark.
Her 21 kills were not enough to keep her in sixth place in the Pac-10’s active career leaders. Washington redshirt senior Lisa Underhill hit for a combined 22 kills against Arizona and Arizona State, bumping her one spot ahead with 997 career kills.
Fox Sports Net, part two
Thursday’s match against Arizona State will be televised by Fox Sports Net, the second time in as many weeks the Ducks will be on television.
Against Oregon State last week, the Ducks took the perfect time to impress, as FSN visited Gill Coliseum. They lost in four games, but looked the strongest they had all season.
Thursday’s match is set to start at 7 p.m. at McArthur Court, but is planned to air Saturday at 10 a.m.
