The weather outside Pauley Pavilion read a moderate 61 degrees Thursday, but inside it was downright chilly for the Oregon volleyball team.
In their first match of the season against Pacific-10 Conference rival UCLA, the Ducks (9-18 overall, 0-15 Pac-10) could not hold off the Bruins’ powerful offense and lost in three straight games (30-23, 30-18, 30-22).
UCLA began game one strong, taking an 8-1 lead before Oregon could score again. A service ace by sophomore Lindsay Murphy pulled the Ducks within striking range at 9-6.
But that’s as close as Oregon would get, with the Bruins taking control en route to a seven-point win.
Game one was a mismatch from the get-go, as UCLA hit for 14 kills and a .379 hitting percentage, while the Ducks could barely stay afloat with nine kills and a dismal .083 attack percentage.
The Ducks stood strong in game two, 8-6, after junior Lindsay Closs recorded her 23rd service ace of the season. However, the Bruins came back and took the lead from the Oregon women, and stood at 12-9 after three straight kills from Ashley Bowles. An 18-9 run from that point on allowed UCLA to roll to a 12-point win in game two.
Down two games, the Ducks could not get off to a good start in game three against the powerful Bruins, and lost that one as well by a large margin, 30-22.
Senior Monique Tobbagi paced Oregon with eight kills and six digs. Redshirt freshman Alisa Nelson, in her first start of the Pac-10 season, pitched in with two kills and one block. Junior Stephanie Martin, who moved to outside hitter to accommodate Nelson’s start, had one of her worst statistical outputs of the season, recording three kills and four blocks.
“We tried something different to increase our chance to score points,” head coach Carl Ferreira said. “That change got us out of sync and we struggled to score points.”
Oregon travels to USC tonight and takes on the Trojans at 7 p.m. at Lyon Center.

Ducks sign two
The Ducks announced their first signings of the recruitment period Tuesday, and two players will wear the Oregon green and gold for the first time next season.
Jodi Bell, a 5-foot-9 setter from Barlow High School in Portland will become only the second player from Oregon to put on a Duck jersey next season. The state 4A Player of the Year, Bell helped her squad finish as the state runner-up in the 2000 and ’01 playoffs.
“Jodi is the best setter in the state and I think the best setter signing in the Pac-10,” Ferreira said.
Bell will be joined by a 6-foot outside hitter from Vancouver, Wash., in Kelly Russell.
“Kelly is an explosive player with great speed and she just understands the game of volleyball,” Ferreira said about one of the team’s newest signings. “She has a high ceiling of potential and even though she’s mainly a middle blocker, I think she can develop into a first team all-Pac-10 outside hitter.”