Talent is often the deciding factor in games.

But grit and resilience can be just as important.

No. 10 UCLA women’s volleyball (15-4, 6-2 Big Ten) narrowly defeated Ohio State (10-8, 3-5) 3-2 Sunday at Pauley Pavilion during the squad’s first match of the season in the rankings. The win extends the squad’s streak to five in a row, three of which went to a fifth set.

“They’ve been really good in five-setters, which is cool to see,” said coach Matt Werle. “But I don’t want to put us in a five-setter every match because it’s just going to take such a toll on our body and minds.”

The Bruins began the game by taking the first set 25-19 before dominating the second, holding the Buckeyes to just nine points – the first time the team has held opponents to single digits in a set since 2019.

Hitting .395 in the first set and .593 in the second, UCLA dominated at the net and in the back row, keeping Ohio State to a .201 hitting percentage across both sets. Junior setter Kate Duffey directed the offense all night, recording another double-double with 54 assists and 13 digs, while also tallying a pair each of aces and blocks.

We came out and played pretty disciplined,” Werle said. “In that second set, our service pressure really just got the best of them. And I don’t know what their coach – give her a lot of credit – said between sets two and three, but they showed up in set three. And then from there on out, we had to elevate.”

Sophomore outside hitter Eliana Urzua – who has been playing front row on the right side with freshman setter Vivian Hickman serving as a defensive specialist for her in the back row – had seven kills in the first set.

The Santa Barbara local finished the night with a season-high 14 kills and four blocks.

“I think me and Duffey had a great connection tonight,” Urzua said. “She just put me in great positions. I had a lot of one blocks tonight, so one person up, which was great. Going with confidence is a huge thing from the start. So keeping that momentum throughout was great.”

Four other Bruins reached double-digit kills across the night, a testament to the depth of the offense. Senior outside hitter Maggie Li led all players, recording 17 kills at a .441 clip, adding seven digs and four blocks.

And a kill from Li, alongside an ace from sophomore right side hitter Mija Bendziute – who finished the affair with 11 kills, three blocks and two aces – kicked off the third set with a 4-1 run in favor of the Bruins.

But the Buckeyes weren’t done yet.

Responding with a 5-0 run to take the lead, Ohio State entered the media timeout with a three-point lead. While the Bruins managed to keep up the fight with scrappy rallies, the visiting squad forced Werle to take a timeout at 21-16, before finishing off the third set 25-20 to stay alive. UCLA struggled to climb back from the deficit it found itself in through the set, hitting at a .154 clip in the frame.

The fourth set seemed to be in favor of the Buckeyes again, who leapt out to a 4-1 lead. But the Bruins dug deep and brought the game within one point. Despite the efforts from the Westwood side, Ohio State led 15-12 at the media break, pulling its advantage to a five-point lead before another Werle timeout.

The short break proved the right choice as the Bruins came back with back-to-back kills from freshman middle blocker Brooke Harwood, who finished the night with 10 kills at a .304 clip, alongside a team-high-tying six blocks. Aided by sophomore defensive specialist Sakura Codling off the bench, UCLA continued to fend off Ohio State.

UCLA continued to fight, pulling the score even at 22 apiece. The efforts proved to be insufficient, as they fell 25-23 to the Buckeyes to go to a fifth set.

Werle used a challenge early in the fifth to turn an Ohio State kill into an attacking error, helping pull UCLA to a 4-2 lead. A Bendziute block gave the Bruins a three-point advantage before an ace from Hickman – who ended the night with eight digs and two aces – extended the team’s lead to five.

Hickman credited her fellow Bruins for her performance.

“Just leaning on my team and knowing we’re all out there for a reason and trusting my team and wanting to do the best for everyone,” Hickman said.

Holding it down in the back line, senior libero Kat Lutz – who delivered a key pancake to keep a long rally alive – finished the night with 17 digs alongside a service ace. Codling ended the night with seven digs in the last two sets.

Werle made another successful challenge on an Ohio State kill to give UCLA a short-lived 11-6 lead. During the lengthy decision, the team managed to stay lighthearted, smiling through the timeout and even dance-battling their opponents.

“We’ve been really working on our bench energy going into our court energy,” Urzua said. “A big thing on our team is it’s 18 versus the six on their court, and I think that’s something that we all emphasize. No matter if we’re on the bench or we’re on the court, we all know we can have an opportunity to go in. We emphasize staying happy, playing with joy.”

The Buckeyes fought back within one at 12-11, but Bendziute’s sideout kill gave the Bruins a small cushion.

A service error on the opposing team gave the Bruins match point, and after the Buckeyes fought off the end of the game, Harwood sealed the deal with a blistering kill down the line on a slide.

“The togetherness that we had through the game was great,” Urzua said. “We’ve been talking a lot about bringing our grit, and I think throughout that whole entire game, we had so much grit, and we felt it from even on the bench to on the court.”