UCLA women’s volleyball extends winning streak over Oregon State with sweep
UCLA women’s volleyball celebrates after scoring a point. No. 17 UCLA women’s volleyball secured its fourth straight home sweep with a victory over Oregon State on Sunday afternoon. (Megan Tagami/Daily Bruin)
Women's Volleyball
| Oregon State | 0 |
| No. 17 UCLA | 3 |
By Bryan Palmero
Oct. 25, 2021 12:12 a.m.
The Bruins faced the Pac-12 foe with the worst overall record in the conference.
What ensued was chaos, according to redshirt sophomore middle blocker Anna Dodson.
No. 17 UCLA women’s volleyball (15-3, 8-2 Pac-12) swept Oregon State (3-17, 1-9) at Pauley Pavilion on Sunday afternoon. The Beavers are one of two teams in the Pac-12 with an overall losing record, having been swept in 13 of its 20 matches this season.
Throughout the match, Oregon State committed 33 total errors – including 17 attacking errors, 12 service errors, three reception errors and one ball-handling error – which amounted to nearly half of UCLA’s points on the afternoon.
“It’s a really good learning opportunity for us to realize that there is going to be chaos,” Dodson said. “That’s really good for us to settle down and find our rhythm.”
On the other side of the net, the Bruins finished with 24 errors, including nine in the second set. Coach Michael Sealy said despite the opposition’s error-filled play, Oregon State still presented challenges in other facets.
“There’s no easy match,” Sealy said. “People will look online tomorrow and see that we won 3-0, but it’s hard. That second set was hard, and Oregon State’s really good. It just shows that these guys are really resilient and patient.”
After the Bruins raced out to a 25-18 first-set victory featuring four ties, the two teams battled it out in a second frame that had 11 ties. Neither team could muster a run greater than three straight points, with the scoring margin being stuck within a two-point deadlock for the entire set.
A Beaver service error tied the frame at 12-12, giving the Bruins an advantage they did not relinquish for the remainder of the set. After giving up 19 kills at that point in the match, UCLA substituted sophomore setter Kate Lane in for graduate student setter Shelby Martin.
While Lane was subbed out after two serves, the setter would find herself on the court on two more occasions in the match. The sophomore’s entrance into the game marked her third appearance for the Bruins on the season.
UCLA would give up one kill with Lane on the court, compared to 37 total on the afternoon. Martin said Lane’s substitution was made to bolster the team’s blocking.
“Kate is a great blocker, and sometimes the other team – they try to go after me,” Martin said. “With that strategy, Kate is in there. She gets really good touches, and so they shut the other team down and force them to go elsewhere.”
The Bruins finished the last two frames with scores of 25-23 and 25-19.
During his 12-season tenure in Westwood, Sealy has yet to lose a match to the Beavers, having won 21 straight contests since taking the helm in 2010. Overall, the victory extended UCLA’s winning streak over Oregon State to 26 straight matches, with the last loss having occurred in 2007.
“You have to give credit to Oregon State – you have to say that they served tough, they played really good defense,” Sealy said. “They were in the right spots.”
UCLA’s next game is slated for Friday evening against Washington State.
