By Grace Wen
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Quick, name one thing the UCLA and UC Santa Barbara women's volleyball teams have in common ...
Both UC schools? Yes, but that's not the answer.
Both have coaches who have amassed over 500 victories and been named Coach of the Year? Yeah, but it's something else.
Give up?
Actually there are two more things the teams have in common: A mess of injuries and a whole lot of freshmen in their lineups.
With three starters gone, UCSB will be forced to play at least three freshmen. Coupled with the fact that the rest of the lineup consists of sophomores, one might assume that the Gauchos are on the brink of disaster.
However, when the No. 13 Bruins (10-3) take on No.16 UCSB (10-3) at Pauley Pavilion tonight, the traditionally UCLA-dominated matchup (UCLA leads the series 57-6 and has won the last nine contests) is full of question marks.
"They have some new personnel we're not that familiar with," UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski said. "But they've got the same problems looking at us, so there will probably be a little bit of getting used to each other at the start of the match."
UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory also sees both sides of the coin.
"We look at the UCLA match as a chance to play a top program," UCSB head coach Kathy Gregory said. "We like to play the Pac-10 teams. But it just comes in a little bit of bad times."
It could indeed be bad times for the Gauchos who are without the services of sophomore middle blocker Katie Crawford and freshman outside hitter Roberta Gehlke. In addition, star outside hitter Jennifer Stroffe, is out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
Of course, UCLA is facing some problems of their own. Outside hitters have been dropping like flies for the Bruins, who have lost junior Kara Milling (foot injury), sophomore Chaska Potter (skin infection), and freshman Melissa Wendt (knee injury).
The hitting power of Milling and the passing skills of Potter are what the Bruins will miss most. While Jennifer Wittenburg stepped in to partially fill the void, the freshman has never carried a big passing load. In fact, during last Saturday's match against USC, back row specialist Jennifer Coopman subbed in for Wittenburg in the backrow.
Nonetheless, Wittenburg will start alongside Tamika Johnson and middle blocker Elisabeth Bachman, both first-year players.
"I think Bachman and Johnson have been playing real well," Banachowski said. "Wittenburg did well in her first start. That's really on the bright side for us that we're getting good play from these young players."
Bachman currently leads the team in hitting percentage (.405) while Johnson averages 2.48 kills per game. The height alone of the Bruin freshmen could intimidate opponents.
"They have very big size," Gregory said. "There's no weak blockers so if we play a 5-1 and we're in the two hitter rotation then it's easy for them to stop us if we're not passing the ball very well. The block can be very intimidating.
"Hopefully we don't beat ourselves. Our competitive spirit as a defensive team is what we want it to be."
Banachowski is fully aware of the strength of the Gaucho defense. "There's always a huge rivalry with another UC school," he said. "Santa Barbara always plays an aggressive and outstanding defensive game, so I think we're going to see some long rallies, a real tough match."