Women’s volleyball to travel to Oregon for weekend battles with Beavers, Ducks

The Bruins will head north with a chance to stay in the race for the Pac-12.

UCLA women’s volleyball (9-6, 4-2 Pac-12) will face Oregon (5-10, 1-5) on Friday night and Oregon State (8-9, 2-4) on Sunday afternoon.

After spending the first two weeks of Pac-12 play at the top of the conference standings, UCLA went 1-1 in its games against then-No. 18 Utah and Colorado, dropping it to fourth place alongside No. 10 Washington and No. 21 Washington State.

In contrast, the Ducks and the Beavers both have losing Pac-12 records and sit in 10th and eighth place, respectively.

“We’ve been in the Pac-12 long enough to know that everybody’s good,” said coach Michael Sealy. “The scary thing is when you get teams that are really good, but they don’t have the wins – it means they’re very hungry for that.”

Oregon has won only one of its eight games versus ranked teams so far this season, with the lone win coming at home against then-No. 18 Utah on Sept. 29. But since then, Oregon has faced four more ranked Pac-12 teams and has lost in all four matches.

“(Oregon hasn’t) figured out (what) their new characteristic is – they used to be a really high-offense team, and now they’re kind of everywhere, trying to still find themselves,” said redshirt sophomore middle blocker Emily Ryan. “I think as long as we keep on them, they won’t be able to do so, and that gives us more of an advantage.”

Oregon’s leading attacker is sophomore outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller, who switched to the position after spending her freshman year at libero.

Nuneviller leads the Ducks with 16 service aces and 10 double-doubles this season, and ranks in the top 10 in both kills per set and digs per set, the only player in the conference to do so.

“I think (Nuneviller is) really important for them – she passes so well, plays great defense, and takes great swings,” Sealy said. “(Nuneviller) is kind of the glue that holds it together, so she’s probably the most important piece because they’re very physical elsewhere, but she’s the one that keeps them all together.”

Oregon State’s only conference wins this season have come against Oregon and last-place Colorado.

The Beavers will be riding a four-game losing streak into the weekend, having lost to the same four ranked Pac-12 teams as the Ducks over the same timespan.

The Bruins have not lost to the Beavers since 2007, and have won the last 21 meetings between the teams. UCLA took the 2018 Westwood matchup in a sweep, and staged a come-from-behind, five-set victory in Corvallis later that season.

But despite the success UCLA has had against Oregon State in the past, redshirt freshman middle blocker Tristin Savage said the Bruins need to treat the Beavers like they’re just as good as their ranked opponents.

“Stats shouldn’t really affect how you play,” Savage said. “We have to go out there pretending that they’re (No. 5 Nebraska) or someone else.”

Despite the differences between the two teams, Oregon and Oregon State pose a common challenge for UCLA, Sealy said: They both run multiple offensive systems.

“The challenge is that both teams have run a variety of offenses,” Sealy said. “They both run with two-setter and one-setter, so we just don’t know what they’re going to do.”

Friday’s matchup against the Ducks will start at 6 p.m. and Sunday’s contest will begin at 2 p.m.