Oregon volleyball stormed the UCLA court Thursday night after the Ducks pulled an upset of the No.9 rank with a fifth set win over the Bruins 17-25, 25-17, 27-25, 23-25, 15-12.
With the Bruins catching up in the final set, libero Amanda Benson popped up an assist to Martenne Bettendorf on the outside who sealed the deal with a kill.
The Ducks main concern last week was to keep their post-season alive with big upsets in the next few weeks and make the NCAA tournament; that goal was helped tremendously with tonight’s upset. The win was Oregon’s first of a ranked team this season, pulling up its record 13-12 (7-9 Pac-12).
To start the match, UCLA took the first set in a similar fashion to its win over the Ducks earlier this season, and with Oregon’s finishing struggles, the match seemed like it may be over all too quickly for the Ducks. The Bruins won the first set by eight points.
Oregon, knowing its season was on the line, stepped up in a big way with sophomore Frankie Shebbie leading the Ducks with six kills by the start of the second set. Although Oregon struggled with serves last week, the Ducks used a new and improved serve game to take the 20-12 lead on aces by Maggie Scott and win the set with another ace by August Raskie, turning the tables on the Bruins with the 25-17 win.
A mid set tie in the third was followed by a big push from Oregon’s offense. Bettendorf scored ten kills by mid set, bested only by Shebbie with 11. Oregon pulled out the third set win 27-25 to propel the Ducks to the 2-1 lead.
Oregon fell by just a two point margin in set four, despite an ace from Kacey Nady and a powerful kill from Lindsey Vander Weide to tie the set at 17. The Oregon set loss took the match to that deciding set five.
The final set was the most crucial tonight, Taylor Agost gave the Ducks some help with a kill to put Oregon up 6-3 before the teams switched sides at 8-5 Oregon. With UCLA on a 2-0 scoring run at the end of the set, the Ducks scored the game winning kill to take the set 15-12 and complete the upset.
Oregon will return home for its final four matches of the season. The Ducks will take on WSU and Washington next Wednesday and Friday, respectively.
Follow Madison Layton on Twitter @MadisonLayton01