EUGENE, Ore. - Senior Dicey McGraw tied a career high with 24 kills,
junior Lauren Van Orden (55 assists, 10 digs) and sophomore Bojana Todorovic (15
kills, 12 digs) had double-doubles and junior Lainey Gera posted 31 digs, as the
10th-ranked Bruins produced their 12th-straight, 20-win season with a four-set
victory at #23 Oregon on Friday. Set scores were 25-15, 25-20, 19-25,
25-20.
The Bruins improve to 20-7 overall and 10-6 in Pac-10
play, while the Ducks fall to 18-9 and 6-9 in league
action.
Todorovic hit .452 with only one error in 31 attempts,
adding two aces. Sophomore Rachael Kidder had 11 kills and four blocks, freshman
Meg Norton recorded 10 digs and three aces and junior Sara Sage added five
kills, three digs and four blocks. The Bruins had 10 blocks and hit .325 as a
team.
The Bruins never trailed to take the opening set. Tied at
three, UCLA went on a 3-0 run on a Todorovic kill and consecutive Oregon attack
errors. The Ducks came back to even the score at eight, but it marked the
closest they would be to the Bruins for the rest of the set. UCLA rattled off
four in a row and six of seven to go ahead 14-9. Kills by Kidder and McGraw, a
combo block by junior Katie Camp and Van Orden and an ace by Norton made it
12-8. An Oregon sideout later, McGraw posted back-to-back kills to put the
Bruins up by five.
Leading 15-11, the Bruins extended their advantage to
eight with a 4-0 run on two Todorovic kills, an ace by freshman Kelly Reeves and
a Duck attack error. Holding a 21-15 advantage, UCLA notched the last four
points of the set to claim a 25-15 victory. Kills by Camp and McGraw and an
Oregon attack error gave the Bruins set point, with McGraw clinching the first
on her team-leading eighth kill of the opener. McGraw had no errors in 10 swings
(.800), while Todorovic added five kills and no miscues in seven attacks (.714).
The Bruins out-hit the Ducks .455 to .086.
The second set was a close one, with 11 ties and four
lead changes, before the Bruins pulled away at the end to go up 2-0. The Ducks
scored three of the first four points of the set and their biggest lead was a
pair on four occasions. Down 8-6, the Bruins responded with two in a row and
five of six to go ahead 11-9. Consecutive kills from Todorovic and Kidder evened
things at eight, and after an Oregon sideout, a Camp/Kidder combo block and
back-to-back aces by Norton put the Bruins up by
two.
The Bruins still held a 15-14 edge before two in a row by
the Ducks gave the home team the lead back at 16-15. Oregon was still on top
17-16, but consecutive kills by Camp and Kidder put UCLA back up. The Ducks
sided out to tie the score at 18, but the Bruins rattled off seven of the last
nine points of the set to take it 25-20. Four straight kills by Kidder, McGraw,
Todorovic and Sage made it 22-18. After a sideout, McGraw had back-to-back kills
to give the Bruins set point. Oregon staved off the first attempt, but committed
a service error to give UCLA the five-point win. McGraw had nine more kills in
the second, Todorovic posted four and Kidder added three. Gera tallied 11 digs
in the second, as the Ducks out-hit the Bruins .325 to
.311.
UCLA jumped out to a 5-3 lead to start the third set, but
Oregon came back with 10 of the next 12 points to take a 13-7 advantage. The
Ducks still led 16-10, but the Bruins made things interesting with a late run.
McGraw had consecutive kills, and after a Duck sideout, a Todorovic kill got
UCLA to within four at 17-13. Trailing 19-14, the Bruins netted four of five on
kills by Kidder and Van Orden, a Todorovic ace and an Oregon attack error to cut
their deficit to a pair at 20-18. But Oregon scored five of the last six points
of the set to take the third 25-19. McGraw had four kills in the third, while
Kidder and Sage had three each. The Ducks out-hit the Bruins .295 to
.256.
The Ducks scored the first point of the fourth, but the
Bruins got the next three on two kills by freshman Mariana Aquino and an Oregon
attack error and didn
