It took the Bruins one set to get into a rhythm.
And that rhythm sustained.
No. 11 UCLA (8-3, 1-1 Pac-12) took the next three sets and upset No. 8 Oregon (8-2, 1-1 Pac-12).
Following the opening set loss, coach Michael Sealy focused on getting his team to be the aggressors and control the tempo of the game.
“I never felt like it was out of our control,” Sealy said. “It was frustrating that we didn’t take care of business on our side, so we needed to be the aggressive team.”
The Ducks took a 6-0 lead against the Bruins to begin set one. UCLA cut the lead to as little as three points with kills by freshmen pin hitters Jenny Mosser and Mac May and sophomore middle blocker Madeleine Gates but dropped set one 25-19, hitting only .059.
Oregon again pulled ahead 3-0 to start set two. But the Bruins got into an offensive rhythm, hitting .480, and took set two 25-18.
Gates had four kills in the second set and hit .586 by the end of the match to lead the team with 17 total kills. She was also a defensive force with six blocks.
“(I was) just making sure I was getting up and going after every hit,” Gates said. “Blocking was helped by our team serving really hard because it made it a lot easier to read on the block.”
UCLA took control of set three with a 5-0 start and maintained that control, taking it home 25-19.
What made the offense well-balanced, Sealy said, was the middles and outside hitters working together. When the middles are up quick, it allows the pins to hit for a high percentage based on them being a threat, he added.
With three kills in the set and 11 total, Mosser worked with her middles to create a productive offense.
“With them just getting up in transition, it opens a lot up with the pins,” Mosser said.
The fourth set started off tight, with 13 ties and five lead changes. But senior pin hitter Reily Buechler recorded six kills in the set to lead the Bruins to a 25-21 victory.
Throughout the match, UCLA was able to shift the momentum and snag points after long rallies. The satisfaction and accomplishment following those big hits, Mosser said, is what really drives the next play.
With a win against a top-ranked conference opponent under their belt, the Bruins look to remain focused as they face No. 7 Washington next week.
“Our biggest thing is we need to be consistent in our attitude, energy and focus every time we touch the ball,” Sealy said. “Just because we have a great match now doesn’t mean we’re going to have a great match next week.”