Oregon waddles away with straight set victory over UCLA women’s volleyball

Junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette tips a ball at Pauley Pavilion. Leverette has registered double-digit kills in every match she’s played this season. (Nicolas Greamo/Daily Bruin senior staff)
Women's Volleyball
UCLA | 0 |
No. 10 Oregon | 3 |
By Chloe Agas
Nov. 3, 2024 1:24 p.m.
Coach Alfee Reft’s training philosophy all season has been to build, regroup and solve the equation.
Yet, more than halfway into the season, the Bruins just can’t seem to figure out the solution.
Getting swept for the second match in a row, UCLA women’s volleyball (10-11, 4-8, Big Ten) fell to No. 10 Oregon (17-4, 9-3) at the Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene, Oregon, Saturday night. With a season-low hitting percentage of .119, the Bruins once again couldn’t etch a single set on the scoreboard and pushed themselves below .500 for the first time this season.
“We got to get back to the drawing board,” Reft said. “It’s the same equation, but we got to spend a little more time – clearly – on getting cleaner on our side of the net, working on passing, making sure our systems are tight.”
The Bruins’ defense was once again out of answers, being outkilled by Oregon 45-32. Ducks middle blocker Onye Ofoegbu reached a .769 hitting percentage on 11 kills, while outside hitter Michelle Ohwobete amassed a .438 mark on 15.
Thirty minutes was all it took for the Ducks to send the Bruins into dark waters in the first set.
A quick 7-0 Oregon run catapulted the team into the lead as Ohwobete fired two aces in a row. UCLA’s defense began to blunder as the point deficit increased from two to 10 points in a matter of minutes.
“We’ve seen our players execute at a high clip against really good teams,” Reft said. “We’ve gone a little absent in those areas – it’s harder to compete, let alone win matches.”
Spearheading the Bruins’ offense once again was junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette, who tallied a 20th-straight match with double-digit kills, accounting for half of the team’s 32 kills with a hitting percentage of .345.
In the second set, junior outside hitter Grayce Olson, graduate middle blocker Anna Dodson, freshman outside hitter Anastasija Ivkovic and redshirt freshman middle blocker Brooklyn Briscoe helped the Bruins to a total of 14 kills – their highest of the match.
At the conclusion of the second set, the Bruins managed to shorten the point deficit 25-21 and increase hitting percentage from -.031 to .333 between the first and second frames.
But despite a spark of momentum, the Bruins’ offense continued to struggle in the final stanza – with only eight kills on the scoreboard. After a final service ace from Ohwobete, the Bruins finished the set on a .056 clip.
“We tried a bit of a different lineup tonight,” Reft said. “But we can’t do anything offensively if we’re not passing the ball and we’re not serving the ball tough – simple as that.”