The crowd at Matthew Knight Arena was ecstatic. Onye Ofoegbu let out a roar, surrounded by her teammates in celebration.
Ofoegbu had just put the Ducks up 19-17 in Set 2 after smacking the ball to the hardwood. No. 10 Oregon (17-4, 9-3 Big Ten) outperformed UCLA (10-11, 4-8 Big Ten) in every category in the first set — but it needed a momentum swing. At that pivotal moment in the 3-0 victory, Ofoegbu was the one to deliver.
Both sides came into the match coming off a loss. The Ducks fell in five sets at Washington on Wednesday, while the Bruins were swept by No. 21 USC on Thursday.
Noemie Glover rose for the first Ducks point of the match — an authoritative kill. From there, it was all Oregon.
Back-to-back Michelle Ohwobete service aces followed consecutive blocks from the Ducks front row. A couple of plays later, UCLA had Oregon scrambling. Players were diving on the floor, exhibiting their hustle. Mimi Colyer’s kill capped off a 7-0 Ducks’ run after they kept the rally alive.
Oregon dominated Set 1 with a 25-12 final score. The Bruins had a negative hitting percentage for the majority of the first set, finishing at -.031 percent.
“It looked like we knew exactly what we were trying to do and we executed it right away, which is so refreshing to see,” Oregon head coach Matt Ulmer said. “We have not done a great job of that.”
UCLA cleaned up the errors in Set 2 and the scoreline reflected that. A competitive second had the two sides tied for most of the first half of the set — until Ofoegbu’s kill put the Ducks up by two.
“We just gave them too many points early on in the second set and then again, once you do that with the team, they start getting more and more confident,” Ulmer said. “I thought we made a nice run there at the end of the second to finish it off and then we carried that over.”
Ofoegbu led the team in efficiency. She hit .769 percent with 11 kills, while Ohwobete tallied 15 kills on .438 percent.
Colyer elevated at set point to hit the ball off the Bruins block and clinch the second set 25-21. While Colyer is typically all smiles following big plays, she maintained a serious demeanor — the job wasn’t quite finished yet.
The final set was about as lopsided as the first. Long rallies won by Oregon toward the end of the 25-13 third brought the crowd back into the match and fueled the Ducks to the finish line.
The match ended with the third Ohwobete service ace.
“I think one of the best things about my game that’s improved since coming to Oregon is definitely my serve,” Ohwobete said. “I think I’ve gotten more comfortable being aggressive and getting after it.”
Oregon has yet to lose two matches in a row this season and hasn’t lost at home since Aug. 30.
The Ducks return home for one of their biggest challenges of the season on Thursday against No. 2 Nebraska. Then, they’ll hit the road for a match in Minnesota next Saturday.
“Some of the things we did tonight are things we’ve been really working on. So it needs to grow. If you’re gonna be successful against them, you’re gonna have to bring your A game,” Ulmer said. “They’re maybe the best defensive team in the country, among other things. So it’s going to be a really great test for us and it’ll be fun to be able to do that in front of our home crowd.”
