Ducks Fall at No. 9 UCLA in Four Sets

Friday, November 18

Los Angeles, Calif.

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

18-8, 11-6Pac-12

UCLA

23-5, 14-4Pac-12

Oregon

UCLA

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

11/18/16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score #9 UCLA 3, #19 Oregon 1

Oregon Suffers Setback In Bid For Pac-12 Title, Looks To Rebound Saturday At USC

By: Nate Krueger

LOS ANGELES – The No. 19 Oregon volleyball team suffered a setback in its bid for a Pac-12 title, falling to No. 9 UCLA in four sets, 25-16, 25-20, 18-25, 25-13, on Friday night at the John Wooden Center.

How It Happened: Looking to gain ground on the first-place Bruins (23-5, 14-4 Pac-12), the Ducks (18-8, 11-6 Pac-12) struggled to contain big runs by UCLA throughout the night. Oregon was unable to sustain early leads in each of the first two sets, falling into a two-set deficit. After rallying to win the third set, another big stretch by UCLA put the fourth set and the match out of reach and handed Oregon its first road loss of the season.

Freshman Ronika Stone led the Ducks with 12 kills on .333 hitting, and Taylor Agost hit .429 with seven kills and just one attack error. Lindsey Vander Weide put down eight kills but struggled with eight errors as well, and freshman Jolie Rasmussen returned from a two-match absence to record six kills and an ace. Maggie Scott paced the 6-2 offense with 22 assists, and Amanda Benson dug 10 balls. The Ducks hit just .160 in the match and had seven service errors.

Set 1: After Oregon built an early 6-4 lead, UCLA erupted with a 13-2 run to go take a commanding 18-7 lead, forcing the Ducks into a timeout after seven straight. Oregon was unable to get closer than seven points from there, as the Bruins cruised to a 25-16 win to open the match. Three different Ducks finished with two kills as the Ducks hit just .042, and Scott tallied an ace.

Set 2: The Ducks had another good start in the second set, going ahead 9-4, before UCLA again used a big run (6-1) to pull even, 11-11. Tied at 18-18, the Bruins rattled off five straight to go up 23-18 and then held on for a 25-20 win to go up 2-0. Stone had her most productive set of the night with five kills, and four other Ducks contributed two.

Set 3: Looking to get back in the match trailing 2-0, Oregon established a 11-7 lead out of intermission. The Ducks then scored four straight to push their lead to 15-9, with a Vander Weide ace forcing UCLA into a timeout. After the Bruins cut the Oregon lead to 17-15, the Ducks finished the set strong with an 8-3 run to win, 25-18, and force a fourth set. Stone and Rasmussen each led the Ducks with three kills in the third, and Rasmussen, Vander Weide and August Raskie each had an ace to put Oregon's total at four for the night. Oregon hit .321 in its most effective set of the night.

Set 4: Oregon hung with UCLA to start the fourth, trailing by just one midway through, but the Bruins erupted with a 6-0 stretch to go up 15-8 and then used a 6-1 run to extend their lead to 21-10. UCLA finished off the set, 25-13, and won the match, 3-1, to hold its lead in the Pac-12. The Ducks hit .025 with nine attack errors in the final set.

What It Means: Entering the match a match-and-a-half behind UCLA for the conference lead, the Ducks are now one loss from being mathematically eliminated from title contention with three matches to play. Oregon falls to 7-1 on the road this season after starting 6-0 away from home in conference play and 7-0 overall.

Up Next: The Ducks will look to rebound from tonight's loss and remain in play for the conference title on Saturday, as they will stay in Los Angeles to face USC at 5 p.m.