UCLA
Oregon
#9 UCLA Drops Five-Setter to Oregon
November 13, 2015 | Women's Volleyball
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LOS ANGELES - Freshman Zana Muno recorded her seventh double-double in a row with 51 assists and 21 digs, while junior Jordan Anderson led all players with 19 kills, but the ninth-ranked Bruins fell in five sets to Oregon on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion. Set scores were 25-17, 17-25, 25-27, 25-23, 12-15.
The Bruins fall to 20-5 overall and 11-4 in Pac-12 play, while the Ducks improve to 13-12 and 7-9 in league action.
Junior Taylor Formico notched 23 digs and six assists, while senior Karly Drolson added 13 digs and a pair of aces. Redshirt sophomore Jessyka Ngauamo and freshman Kyra Rogers were each in double figures in kills with 10. Junior Jennie Frager added nine kills and six blocks, junior Claire Felix recorded six kills, five digs and four blocks and redshirt junior Haley Lawless had five kills.
The Bruins never trailed in the opening set, scoring five of the first seven on kills by Frager and Ngauamo, a solo stuff from Anderson, a Felix/Muno combo block and an Oregon attack error. The Ducks would come back to even the score at six, seven and eight, but a 5-2 Bruin run on three kills by Rogers, one by Anderson and a Drolson ace made it 13-10.
UCLA's lead didn't dip below two for the rest of the set. At 13-11, a 7-1 Bruin run blew it open. Anderson had four kills during the run, Frager and Ngauamo each posted one and the Ducks committed a service error. At 23-17, back-to-back kills by Ngauamo finished up the 25-17 victory. Anderson recorded eight kills in an error-less nine attempts, Ngauamo was 5-for-12 with no miscues and Rogers added four kills in the opening set. Formico notched five digs, as the Bruins out-hit the Ducks .472 to .278.
After never trailing in the opening set, the only leads for the Bruins in the second were at 1-0 and 2-1. After eight ties in the first 16 points, the Ducks went on a 12-4 run, with three of the UCLA points coming on Oregon service errors. The Ducks would win the set by the same score as the first, 25-17, to even the match. Anderson and Frager each had two kills in the set, while Drolson and Formico both posted five digs, as the Bruins were out-hit .297 to .088.
UCLA's largest lead in the third was three, while Oregon's was four, in a set that featured nine ties. At 8-all, a Rogers kill, a Frager/Ngauamo block and an Oregon attack error put the Bruins up by three. Oregon came back with six straight to go up by three and eventually got its lead to four at 17-13 and 19-15.
Oregon was still up by three at 23-20 before a Frager kill, a Frager/Lawless block and a solo stuff from sophomore Reily Buechler evened things at 23. The Ducks would earn set points at 24-23 and 25-24, but kills by Lawless saved both of them. However, at 25-all, Oregon scored the next two to win the third 27-25. Rogers paced the Bruins in the set with five kills, while Anderson added three. Formico posted seven digs and Drolson had four, as the Bruins were out-hit .140 to .073.
The fourth set was even closer than the third, with 15 ties and eight lead changes. Oregon's largest edge was three, while for UCLA, it was a pair. The Bruins were down 12-9 when they scored four straight on back-to-back Lawless kills, a Frager kill and a Drolson ace to go ahead. Even at 19, kills by Anderson and Frager put the Bruins up, but Oregon responded with the next two to make it 21-all.
A Frager kill and an Oregon attack error again put the home team up by a pair, and after a sideout, a Ngauamo kill gave the Bruins two set points. On the second attempt, a Lawless/Felix block wrapped up the 25-23 victory to force a fifth set. Anderson and Felix each produced four kills in the set, while Frager added three. Muno had six digs and Formico posted four, as the Bruins were out-hit .205 to .156.
The fifth set was tied three times in the first six points, but at 3-all, three straight by Oregon gave the visitors the lead for good. At 8-6, a 6-2 run gave the Ducks six match points, but the Bruins didn't quit, saving the first four. A Frager/Lawless block, an Oregon attack error and back-to-back Ngauamo kills cut the deficit to 14-12, but the Ducks won the contest on their fifth match point, 15-12. Muno had seven digs in the final set, as the Bruins were out-hit .133 to .037.
The Bruins return to action on Sunday against Oregon State at the John Wooden Center at 11 a.m. The match will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.
