Friday’s match against the Bruins (14-15, 8-12 Big Ten) was the final dress rehearsal for the No. 13 Ducks (22-7, 14-6 Big Ten) before they begin their NCAA Tournament run.
Oregon will enter the tournament on a one-match win streak following its 3-1 victory (23-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-22) over UCLA.
The Ducks have struggled in recent matches. The last time they went to Southern California, they suffered a reverse sweep to No. 21 USC. Oregon fell in a similar fashion on Wednesday against No. 9 Purdue at home where it once again blew a two-set lead.
The first set at Pauley Pavilion was anything but pretty. The two sides combined for nine service errors and 11 attack errors, both hitting under .200 percent.
The Bruins controlled Set 1 with a 5-0 scoring run early. The Ducks stayed close but they prevented themselves from clawing back with their errors piling up.
After a failed challenge by Oregon head coach Matt Ulmer on UCLA set point, the Bruins took the first set. The last time UCLA won a set against the Ducks was all the way back in 2022.
The Bruins have dominated the series overall, but Oregon entered on a five-match winning streak in the matchup, including victories in nine of the last 12 meetings.
In Set 2, the Ducks started looking like that team which has commanded the matchup in recent memory. Mimi Colyer, Michelle Ohwobete and Noemie Glover increased their kill totals to help Oregon flip the momentum.
Onye Ofoegbu and Ohwobete built a brick wall on the left side of the net to block the ball down to the hardwood and tie the match at a set apiece.
The front row played a big role in the victory for the Ducks, especially in the second set. Ofoegbu steered the defense with seven blocks in the match.
The beginning of the third set resembled the first with five Oregon service errors. The Ducks didn’t have their first advantage in Set 3 until it was 16-15. From there, they never looked back.
Freshman middle blocker Mia Tvrdy called the third set with a kill. Tvrdy stepped up big for Oregon on Friday with six kills — the second-best total of her young career. Outside of her matches against UCLA and Iowa, where she recorded her career-high, Tvrdy only had five kills the rest of the season combined.
The service line continued to haunt the Ducks in the fourth and final set. Oregon’s 18 service errors were their season-worst by a big margin. Still, the Ducks managed to escape Set 4 and finish the regular season out on a high note.
Colyer led the team with 21 kills, while Ohwobete tallied a 13-kill, 18-dig double-double.
UCLA now falls to 2-11 versus ranked opponents this season. Meanwhile, Oregon never lost two consecutive matches all season.
Now the Ducks wait and see where they land in the NCAA Tournament. They’ll learn about their regional destination during Sunday’s Selection Show at 3 p.m.
