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Freshman Colby Lyman and the No. 8 UCLA women’s volleyball team is getting ready to take on

While it may seem derogatory, the race for second place in the Pac-10 has officially begun.

The No. 8 UCLA women’s volleyball team is currently tied with No. 9 Stanford for third in the conference, trailing No. 6 California by just one game. No. 1 USC still has not lost a match in its last 32 contests, and is the clear favorite to win the conference.

The rest of the picture is not so clear. With so many ranked teams battling for position, the conference is extremely top-heavy. Whomever emerges in the top two positions will likely be rewarded by the NCAA with high seeds in the postseason tournament. UCLA can take a big step towards accomplishing that goal with two victories when it hosts Washington State Friday and No. 10 Washington Saturday in Pauley Pavilion.

Both the Cougars and the Huskies have already proven they can play evenly with the Bruins. Both previous contests went five games, with UCLA ultimately prevailing. A loss to either team would be a step back from the pack and maintaining the home court advantage will be critical for the Bruins.

“We’re hoping that the home court advantage will give us a break,” coach Andy Banachowski said. “We’ll be a little more consistent and rested being at home. Hopefully we can show off in front of our fans how well we can play.”

Washington (15-5, 6-5) is somewhat one-dimensional, led by junior outside hitter Sanja Tomasevic’s 5.45 kills per game. As the third leading killer in the Pac-10, Tomasevic dominates the ball and receives the most attempts.

Washington State (7-15, 3-8) is slightly more balanced, with senior Zanda Bautre pacing the Cougars with 3.40 kills per game, while redshirt-freshman Kristen Carlson is right behind with 3.14. In spite of their poor record, Washington State recently took Stanford to five games at Pullman, and is no doubt looking to finally upset a ranked team.

If UCLA is going to avoid a loss, they’ll have to improve their passing game, something that Banachowski has been emphasizing this week after a poor performance against Northridge Tuesday.

“We devoted our entire practice on Wednesday to working on our passing and digging,” he said. “We’ll settle down and pass better than we did.”

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The Bruins are also hoping that they won’t have to deal with any further health issues. Now that freshman Colby Lyman and junior Brittany Ringel are rounding back into form, a few new injuries have emerged. Junior Heather Cullen is experiencing problems with her knee, and freshman Becky Green has complained of flu-like symptoms. Still, the team is relatively healthy overall.

“We’re still in good shape, I think,” Banachowski said.

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