The UCLA women’s volleyball team defeated the Oregon Ducks in five sets tonight, 26-24, 25-18, 22-25, 22-25 and 15-9, in front of 1,186 fans at Pauley Pavilion.
The No. 13 Bruins (15-6, 5-3 Pac-10) relied heavily on a series of blocking substitutions, orchestrated by coach Andy Banachowski, where freshman outside hitter Rachael Kidder and sophomore middle blocker Sara Sage played in the front row to counter the potent Duck offense. The Bruins finished with 18.5 blocks and held No. 12 Oregon’s (14-4, 4-4) attack to a .184 hitting average, well below its season average of .296.
“I think it worked out really well. We got into situations where we got to bring in our bigger blockers,” Banachowski said. “It gives us a different look, that’s for sure, to serve as tough as we do and then to block as tough.”
Aside from Kidder’s career-high six blocks as well as two kills on five attempts, the Bruins were uplifted in the fifth set by a blistering six-kill performance by outside hitter Dicey McGraw.
The junior’s .667 clip in the fifth set came after a dry spell in the third and fourth sets, in which she hit a total of two kills and had four errors.