Bruin digest

Injured player eager for return to court

Published: Friday, October 29, 2004

Junior Nikki Blue is feeling blue. The starting point guard of the women’s basketball team sustained a right ankle injury in practice earlier this week when she landed awkwardly on her foot after clutching a rebound. The swelling has since subsided, but her ankle is still tender enough that Blue has not yet been allowed to compete in practices, even though she’s itching to return to the floor. “I feel like it’s a setback, even though it’s only been a couple of days,” Blue said. “I’m just sitting and watching ... and I hate it.” Blue tried to test the ankle for five minutes during Thursday’s practice, but was quickly taken off the floor by coach Kathy Olivier. No timetable has been set as to when Blue will be able to return to practice, but the junior thinks she’ll be able to step back onto the court starting Monday. Blue was second on the team last year in scoring (15.2 points per game) and led the squad in assists.

MEN’S BASKETBALL: Kansas is at the top of the USA Today/ESPN pre-season rankings. The Jayhawks are followed by three ACC teams in Wake Forest, North Carolina and Georgia Tech, respectively. Arizona is the highest ranked Pac-10 team at No. 11. Washington and Stanford are the other two schools in the conference that are ranked, checking in at No. 24 and No. 25, respectively. Notre Dame and Michigan State are the only ranked non-conference schools on UCLA’s schedule.

SOFTBALL: Team USA Elite improved to 5-1 at the World University Championships in Plant City, Fla., with a pair of victories on Thursday. Players Caitlin Benyi and Andrea Duran, both juniors at UCLA, had major contributions in the team’s 2-0 win over Canada and 3-0 win over China. Duran went 2 for 3 in the first game against Canada. In the second game against China, both she and Benyi scored runs off a Sara Dean triple in the sixth inning to give Team USA the lead. The team faces Guatemala today before moving into the playoff round tomorrow.

CLUB WATER POLO: The UCLA men’s club water polo team completed their regular season with a 4-4 record. The team finished tied for fourth in its division, closing the regular season with three consecutive wins. They will participate in the Pacific Coast Division Championships next weekend. The Bruins are also ranked 13th in the nation. Three of their losses came to teams ranked in the top 10 – to Cal Poly, USC and Fresno State.

Compiled by Andrew Finley, Jeff Eisenberg and Seth Fast Glass, Bruin Sports senior staff.