Bruins sweep final regular-season games @supost.com

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Date: Mon, Nov 27, 2006, 08:00 AM

There could not have been a better way for the seniors on the UCLA women?s volleyball team to celebrate the end of their regular-season careers at Pauley Pavilion. With two easy sweeps of Oregon State (3-24, 0-18 Pac-10) and Oregon (17-11, 7-11) this weekend, the Bruins played their last regular-season home matches of the year. No. 4 UCLA (29-3, 15-3) defeated the Beavers on Friday, 30-12, 30-15, 30-26, and the Ducks on Saturday, 30-25, 30-26, 30-20. The seniors have the possibility of playing two more matches in Pauley Pavilion, as UCLA hosts the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament this Friday and Saturday. But by then, the soon-to-be-graduates will have more important things on their minds than taking a trip down memory lane. Saturday?s match against the Ducks was a night for honoring the Bruins? four seniors: outside hitter Katie Carter, defensive specialist Laura Kroneberger, libero Colby Lyman and middle blocker Nana Meriwether. As a tribute to them in their final home game, coach Andy Banachowski started all four ? even Kroneberger, who has seen limited playing time this season. Senior Night brought tears to the girls? eyes Saturday, even for some of the lowerclassmen. ?Before the game we did a ceremony, and I shed a couple of tears then,? Kroneberger said. ?Some of my teammates were crying and I tried to turn away from them so they wouldn?t make me cry.? ?Becky (Mehring) kind of got us all,? said Carter, who, like the other seniors, received a teddy bear fully outfitted to resemble her. ?When we went to hug her she was crying. ... It?s weird how we?re not going to be as close as we are now ever again, because we?re all going to go our separate ways.? For some, hearing their names get called for what could be the final time in introductions hit hard, but for others, volleyball is first on the agenda and the depression of leaving UCLA will only come with the final match of the season. ?It?s very surreal that I won?t be playing here, but we still have a lot of volleyball to play,? Meriwether said. ?So it hasn?t hit me yet. I?m waiting for the (NCAA) Tournament; I think it will hit me then.? These two sweeps against Oregon State and Oregon were not only a confidence booster, but also a momentum builder for the Bruins, going into the NCAA Tournament this week. UCLA is currently on a four-match winning streak, and is looking to extend that count to 10. ?It?s such a good feeling to know, going into the tournament, that we swept both teams and played really well,? Carter said. ?We?re ready to start our new season. These next six games we?re all going to win.? And UCLA will look to run out the remaining matches of the season by riding its improved serving and blocking, two skills which the Bruins have perfected in the latter half of the regular season. In Friday?s match, the Bruins aced the Beavers 10 times, led by Kaitlin Sather?s six, and stuffed Oregon State with 12 team blocks. On Saturday, UCLA roofed the Ducks 14 times, with 7.5 in Game 1 alone. ?I thought we played really well, and I thought our serving was really a step up,? Banachowski said. ?I think that as a result of that, our blocking is even better. We had two real good nights of blocking and two real good nights of serving.? ?Statistically, we?ve gotten so much better this half of the season,? Carter said. ?We?re going up. There?s no plateauing, there?s no declining; we?re just getting better. And that?s going to do only good things for the postseason.? And the postseason is creeping up soon enough, with the Bruins? first roadblocks coming in the form of the University of Alabama at Birmingham on Friday, and, should UCLA be victorious, the winner of the Utah-Michigan State matchup on Saturday. ?If we can continue to play this well and always be able to match the intensity of our opponents, we?re going to have a good postseason,? Banachowski said. STANFORD PAC-10 CHAMPION: With a sweep of the Washington schools this weekend, No. 3 Stanford claimed the Pac-10 title with a conference record of 16-2. No. 2 Washington and UCLA are tied for second with identical 15-3 records, and No. 6 USC came in fourth at 14-4. <a href='; target='_blank'>;