LAS VEGAS – The UCLA women’s volleyball team rolled to a decisive sweep of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Saturday afternoon at the Orleans Arena in the Lucky Aces Volleyball Invitational.
Set scores were 25-15, 25-16, 25-15.
The Bruins (8-2) dictated the match with efficient offense, steady ball control, and a suffocating presence at the net. UCLA hit a season-high .378 across the three sets, including a dominant .522 clip in the second while limiting the Islanders (2-7) to just .044 on the afternoon while piling up 10 team blocks. Seven service aces added another layer of pressure that kept TAMU‑CC off balance throughout the afternoon.
Mija Bendziute led the attack with nine kills on .615 hitting, adding two blocks and an ace in a highly polished performance. Eliana Urzua followed with eight kills on .438, plus an ace and a block assist, providing consistent scoring in transition. Brooke Harwood continued her strong stretch of play, finishing with eight kills on .667 and three blocks.
Running the offense, Ava Sarafa totaled 28 assists, guiding UCLA to its best hitting percentages of the weekend. At the net, Jordyn Johnson anchored the block with five total stuffs, repeatedly shutting down Islander attacks in sets two and three. Lola Schumacher added 11 digs, stabilizing the back row and keeping UCLA in system.
Freshman Ashton Nelson made her collegiate debut in the contest.
UCLA controlled the opening set against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi from the midway point on, using a steady side‑out rhythm and a pair of momentum‑shifting serving runs to pull away for a 25-15 win. After an early back‑and‑forth start, Bendziute and Urzua sparked a 6-3 surge, and the Bruins quickly extended the margin behind clean transition swings from Maggie Li and Ava Utterback. The Islanders briefly closed within 10-7, but UCLA responded with a dominant stretch when Li delivered three kills in four rallies, Marianna Singletary added a side‑out swing, and back‑to‑back Islander errors pushed the lead to 15-11. Li then broke the set open with two straight aces, giving UCLA full control. Harwood and Utterback supplied late kills, and Singletary finished the frame with a clean side‑out to seal the 25-15 result.
The Bruins established momentum in the early stages of the second set building an early 3-2 lead following an Urzua ace and an Utterback kill. Harwood supplied multiple early side‑outs, Johnson added a kill and a solo block, and Bendziute chipped in another point to push UCLA ahead 9-5. The Islanders briefly closed within 11-9, but UCLA responded with a solid stretch when Harwood and Urzua each scored in transition before Johnson delivered another block to make it 17-12. Bendziute and Urzua closed the set with clean side‑out swings, and Urzua finished it off at 25-16, giving UCLA a two‑set lead.
UCLA closed out the match with another steady set, pulling away from the Islanders after the halfway point in the frame. Bendziute and Schumacher sparked the early push, and after the Islanders briefly tied it at 9-9, the Bruins took over with a string of kills from Utterback and Singletary. Sarafa’s setting kept the offense in rhythm, Harwood added multiple transition swings, and UCLA’s block sealed the frame, highlighted by a solo from Harwood and a closing tandem block from Hazel Alevok and Harwood, finishing off the set 25-15 and completing the sweep.
The Bruins will close out the Lucky Aces Volleyball Invitational with tomorrow’s matchup against Hawaii at 2:30 p.m. (PT). The contest will be streamed on Mountain West Network+.