BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The UCLA women’s volleyball dropped its Big Ten Conference opener, falling in straight sets to No. 18 Indiana on Thursday night inside Wilkinson Hall.
Set scores were 27-25, 25-19, 25-21.
UCLA (9-3, 0-1) Big Ten never fully found its offensive rhythm, finishing at .150 hitting, while Indiana (8-2, 1-0 Big Ten) controlled the efficiency battle at .238 and out‑blocked the Bruins 9.0 to 7.5.
Brooke Harwood led UCLA offensively, finishing with nine kills on .318 hitting (9-2-22) while adding three total blocks and two digs.
Marianna Singletary delivered a steady two‑way performance with six kills, three total blocks digs, while Maggie Li posted six kills, seven digs, and 3 total blocks
Ava Utterback supplied early serving pressure with two service aces, adding four kills and four digs while stabilizing UCLA’s ball control in rotations six and one.
Eliana Urzua totaled seven kills and two block assists, providing UCLA with scoring in transition and late‑set side‑outs. At the setter position, Kate Duffey handed out 28 assists, adding nine digs and a block assist.
Indiana jumped out quickly with a 6-1 scoring to force an early UCLA timeout, but the Bruins answered with a 4-0 push fueled by a Li kill and solo block. UCLA settled in, yet Indiana maintained a 15-12 edge at the media timeout and later stretched the margin to 19-15. The Bruins countered with a 3-0 run behind two Singletary kills, including a put‑away of an overpass, and later extended the surge to 5-0 to take their first lead at 20-19. UCLA moved ahead 24-22, but Indiana erased both set points and strung together a 3-0 run to go up 25-24. After Harwood tied it at 25–25, the Hoosiers claimed the final two rallies to secure the 27-25 win in the first frame.
Indiana opened the second set with a 5-1 burst, but UCLA quickly steadied, pulling even at 6-6 behind a Schumacher ace and two Li kills. The Hoosiers rebuilt momentum to take a 13-8 lead and forced a Bruin timeout, though UCLA chipped back within 16-14 after a strong defensive stretch. Indiana answered with a 4-1 push to restore a five‑point cushion at 20-15, and despite UCLA’s attempts to close the gap, the Hoosiers maintained control down the stretch and closed out the frame 25-19.
Indiana absorbed two early Utterback aces yet still built a 9-5 cushion, then seized full control with a 5-0 run that stretched the margin to 15-8 and forced a UCLA timeout. The Hoosiers kept the momentum throughout the frame, and despite surrendering a 4-0 scoring run to the Bruins late in the, they held on to take the set 25-21 and secure the match.
The Bruins will wrap up the first weekend of Big Ten action at Northwestern on Saturday, Sept. 26 for a 5 p.m. (PT) matchup on B1G+.