LOS ANGELES – Marianna Singletary delivered a dominant performance, recording 19 kills on .548 hitting and adding eight blocks to lead UCLA women’s volleyball over No. 18 Washington on Thursday at Pauley Pavilion presented by Wescom Financial
Set scores were 25-15, 21-25, 25-20, 25-21.
The Bruins (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) hit .347 as a team, compared to Washington's (18-6, 9-6) .235, while recording 12.5 team blocks to the Huskies' four. UCLA finished with 61 kills, 59 assists, 59 digs and three service aces. Washington recorded 64 kills, 59 assists, 64 digs and two aces, but committed 26 attack errors compared to just 11 for the Bruins.
This marks UCLA’s second ranked victory of the season, with the other being a five-set win over No. 15 Penn State on Oct. 16.
Singletary matched her season-high with 19 kills in the contest while hitting .548. She also contributed eight total blocks, including one solo block, four digs and a service ace to lead UCLA with 24.5 points.
Mija Bendziute and Eliana Urzua added 11 kills apiece. Bendziute hit .333 and contributed two block assists, while Urzua added three block assists. Ava Utterback also provided a strong two-way performance, finishing with nine kills on a .364 hitting percentage and 12 digs.
At setter, Ava Sarafa led UCLA with 28 assists and seven digs, while Kate Duffey added 21 assists and six digs. Defensively, Kat Lutz and Utterback shared the team lead with 12 digs apiece. Maggie Li contributed nine digs and six block assists, while Jordyn Johnson added four block assists.
Washington was led offensively by Maija Howse, who recorded 16 kills while hitting .364. Samantha Destler added 14 kills and 12 digs, while Julia Hunt finished with 10 kills on a .348 hitting percentage. Kaitlyn Nguyen paced the Huskies defensively with 19 digs.
Singletary opened the match with a pair of kills before Bendziute added one of her own, fueling a 6-2 UCLA run to give the Bruins a 10-4 advantage and force a Washington timeout. Singletary continued her strong start, connecting on her first four swings of the match to extend UCLA's lead to 15-8 at the media timeout. Another 4-0 run, highlighted by a Sarafa ace, pushed the advantage to 19-9. The Bruins closed out the set with a 3-0 run, punctuated by Singletary hammering an overpass before delivering a huge block for set point, as UCLA cruised to a 25-15 win. Singletary led the way with six kills and a block in the opening frame.
Washington came out strong in the second set, jumping out to a 7-2 lead and forcing a UCLA timeout. The Huskies maintained control, extending their advantage to 15-8 at the media break. Trailing 19-9, the Bruins mounted a late charge with a 9-4 run to pull within 23-19, but Washington held on to take the set, 25-21.
The teams traded points early in the third set before Li delivered back-to-back kills to give UCLA an 11-10 lead. Washington responded with a 4-0 run to move ahead 14-11, but the Bruins quickly answered with a 4-0 surge of their own, highlighted by three consecutive blocks from Singletary, to take a 15-14 advantage into the media timeout. Singletary added another block to help UCLA build a 21-18 lead and force a Washington timeout. The Bruins then closed the set with four straight points, securing a 25-20 victory and taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
The teams continued to trade points in the fourth set before UCLA began to pull away with a pivotal 4-0 run, fueled by two more Singletary blocks and a Lutz ace, to establish a 19-13 lead and force another Washington timeout. The Huskies fought back, trimming the deficit to 21-19, but the Bruins stayed composed down the stretch. Utterback delivered two crucial kills, including the match-clinching point, to seal the 25-21 set victory and secure the match for UCLA.
The Bruins will return to Pauley Pavilion on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. to host No. 12 Oregon.