The UCLA women’s volleyball team was defeated by rival USC this Friday at the Galen Center, dropping their Pac-10 opener in four sets, 19-25, 25-19, 16-25, 19-25.
The No. 11 Bruins (10-2) had difficulty handling the No. 6 Trojans (12-0) from the get-go, letting USC develop an early lead, and the Trojans won the first set without ever being behind.
The first Bruin lead came with the first point of the second set. UCLA came back strong to win the second set in an impressive defensive showing, posting five blocks, but the Trojans answered with a dominant third set that saw the Bruins committing eight attack errors.
Though the Bruins retaliated in the beginning of the fourth set, the Trojans were able to overcome a five-point Bruin lead to break UCLA’s eight-match winning streak.
UCLA were unable to stop USC’s outside hitters. Junior Alex Jupiter and freshman Falyn Fonoimoana finished the match with 21 and 17 kills, respectively. Leading the Bruins were senior Dicey McGraw with 16 kills and sophomore Racheal Kidder with 14 kills. UCLA setter junior Lauren Van Orden had 37 assists, while USC setter junior Kendall Bateman had 49 assists.
The Bruins will continue conference play next week against Washington State and Washington.