EVANSTON, Ill. – The UCLA women’s volleyball team earned a dominant road sweep on Saturday night, defeating Northwestern in straight sets inside Welsh‑Ryan Arena.
Set scores were 25-20, 25-20, 25-20.
UCLA (10-3, 1-1 Big Ten) earns its first Big Ten Conference win of the campaign, and the first of the Matt Werle era.
Behind one of its most efficient offensive outings of the season, UCLA hit .371 and piled up 51 kills, while holding Northwestern (7-6, 0-2) to .241 and limiting the Wildcats’ scoring runs with steady ball control and an 8.5‑block defensive effort.
Brooke Harwood powered the Bruin attack with a career-high 14 kills on .684 hitting, and Marianna Singletary added 10 kills on .500 with six blocks. Eliana Urzua chipped in 10 kills on .409, while Maggie Li posted nine kills and five digs.
At setter, Kate Duffey steered UCLA to its high hitting marks with 40 assists, adding eight digs and four block assists. Ava Utterback contributed six kills, 10 digs, and three aces, while Lola Schumacher stabilized the back row with eight digs and a service ace.
UCLA and Northwestern traded points through the early stages until the Bruins seized control with a 6-1 surge, sparked by service aces from Hickman and Utterback, to move ahead 10-6. Northwestern clawed back to even the frame at 14-14, but UCLA created separation late when Li dropped a well‑placed off‑speed ball into the center of the court and Singletary teamed with Duffey for a momentum‑shifting block that pushed the margin to 20-17. The Wildcats trimmed it to 21-20, yet Singletary responded again by delivering a kill and a block to restore a three‑point cushion at 23-20. UCLA closed the door with a 4-0 finishing run. The Bruins hit .429 in the set, led by Harwood’s six kills.
Northwestern jumped out to an 11-6 advantage to open the second set, but UCLA steadied and trimmed the margin to 12-10 before the Wildcats pushed it to 15-12 at the media timeout. The Bruins responded immediately, stringing together a 4-0 run to surge in front 16-15 and force a Northwestern timeout. UCLA kept the pressure on from there, stretching the lead as high as 24-19 behind two timely Urzua kills, and Duffey sealed the frame with a well‑placed dump to close out the set 25-20.
UCLA burst out to a 6-1 start in the third set and kept firm control through the midpoint, stretching the margin to 13-8 and carrying a 15-11 lead into the media timeout. Northwestern briefly tightened the frame to 17-15, but a Wildcat service error followed by a statement block from Singletary rebuilt the cushion. From there, the Bruins closed confidently, siding out at a high rate and maintaining a multi‑point advantage until Utterback delivered the final swing on match point to secure the sweep.
The Bruins will return to Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial on Friday, Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. (PT) when they host Michigan State and continue Big Ten action. The contest will be available for viewing on B1G+.