The young UCLA women’s volleyball team seemed nearly unstoppable only two weeks ago.
Vastly improving with each day of practice, the Bruins had jumped out to a 7-1 record.
Then three key players suffered injuries in the same weekend, contributing to the three-game losing streak the team currently finds itself in.
Sophomore Meghan Schoen is out for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee that she suffered in the Bruins’ Sept. 17 match against Villanova.
Junior captain Colby Lyman endured a tibial bone contusion in the Valparaiso match on Sept. 16.
And to top it off, freshman Kaitlin Sather suffered a mild dislocation of her right kneecap during warm-ups for UCLA’s Sept. 18 match at Wisconsin. As a result, she has some mild ligament damage surrounding the kneecap.
With their injury-depleted roster thrown into competition, the Bruins were swept in their matches against Wisconsin, Cal, and Stanford.
“We had a very different team out there on the court last weekend than we would have if we had been healthy,” UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. “I don’t know if that would have changed the outcome, but we certainly would have had more experience out there if Colby and Meghan and Kaitlin had been playing.”
Without Sather, who leads the team in kills and aces, or Lyman, who is second on the team in digs per game, the Bruins have been unable to mount a serious challenge against teams that would be difficult to beat even with a healthy lineup.
“Losing three players in such a short amount of time shocked us because everyone thought that they could be the next player to get injured,” redshirt sophomore Rachell Johnson said. “It definitely made things more chaotic on the court because the normal playmakers weren’t playing.”
Although Schoen won’t be back for the rest of this season, Lyman and Sather should return to the UCLA lineup within the next few matches.
It is doubtful that Lyman will be able to play against USC on Friday, but the Bruins are hopeful that Sather will be fully recovered in time to make an impact against the Trojans.
FRESHMEN STEP UP: While the loss of three players to injury took its toll on the Bruins last weekend, the open starting spots allowed several freshman to step up with big contributions.
The most notable was Kelsey Hall, who led UCLA with 12 digs against Cal in her first start for the team. She followed up her performance the next night by leading the team with 10 kills against Stanford.
“Kelsey did an outstanding job of stepping into a starting role,” Banachowski said. “She gained a lot of confidence and experience in the matches.”
Other freshmen who took advantage of the newfound playing time were Elise Carstensen and Blair Socci. Carstensen notched 10 of her 12 kills for the season while Socci added nine digs for the weekend.
“It was a little difficult with different players on the court, but we showed that the freshmen can definitely step up when needed,”freshman setter Nellie Spicer said. “The experience some of the players got gives us some more depth now.”
RECORD LOSS: UCLA’s loss on Friday marked the first time Cal has ever beaten the Bruins. UCLA previously held a 47-0 record against the Bears.
“Losing to Cal was pretty difficult on the team because the streak was broken,” Johnson said. “There were some tears after the game and we were all disappointed. We didn’t want to be the first team ever to lose to Cal.”
Even though the Bruins’ dominating win-streak over Cal came to an end, the team is drawing from potential silver linings.
“It wasn’t a total lost weekend because we got a little bit of confidence going for us with the experience gained despite the fact that we were shorthanded,” Banachowski said. “It was disappointing to see the streak go after so long, but I knew it would eventually be broken.”