LOS ANGELES – The UCLA women’s volleyball team fell to Michigan State in straight sets on Friday night inside Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial.
Set scores were 25-16, 25-19, 25-14.
UCLA (10-4, 1-2 Big Ten) was held to a .039 hitting percentage with 28 kills and 24 attack errors, while Michigan State (12-1, 2-1) hit .284 with 40 kills.
Maggie Li paced the Bruin attack with a team-high eight kills and added four digs, while Marianna Singletary finished with seven kills and three blocks. Brooke Harwood contributed four kills and three blocks, and Eliana Urzua added three kills and two blocks.
Lola Schumacher led UCLA defensively with a match-high 13 digs. The Bruins utilized both Kate Duffey and Ava Sarafa at setter, with Sarafa recording a team-high 14 assists to go along with two digs, a solo block and UCLA's lone service ace. Duffey dished out 10 assists with three digs and a block assist.
Michigan State was led offensively by Alanna Bankston, who recorded a match-high 15 kills on .323 hitting and added three blocks. Carmen Waye added eight kills on .700 hitting, five blocks and two aces for the Spartans.
Michigan State raced out to an 8-3 advantage, forcing UCLA to call timeout. Urzua provided a spark with a block and a kill, but the Spartans quickly regained control and built a 15-6 lead by the media break. The Bruins struggled to find their offensive rhythm, committing nine attack errors and hitting -.125 in the frame as Michigan State took the set, 25-16. Schumacher anchored the UCLA defense with seven digs in the set.
UCLA got off to a much stronger start in the second set, using a 4-0 run fueled by a kill and block from Singletary to take an 8-6 lead. Kills from Duffey and Singletary then extended the advantage to 10-7 and forced a Michigan State timeout. The Spartans responded with three straight points to even the set at 10-10 before pulling ahead, 18-15, late in the frame. UCLA cut the deficit to one behind kills from Harwood and Singletary, but Michigan State answered with a 4-0 run to stretch its lead to 22-17. The Spartans maintained control from there to take the set, 25-19.
UCLA and Michigan State traded points to open the third set before Sarafa provided a spark for the Bruins with an impressive solo block. She followed with an ace moments later to keep UCLA within one at 10-9. The Spartans then seized control, using a run to stretch their lead to 16-11. Michigan State maintained its advantage from there and closed out the final set, 25-14.
The Bruins return to Pauley Pavilion tomorrow evening to host Michigan at 7 p.m. (PT) on B1G+.