As the No. 12 Ducks started their last regular season homestand, Oregon beat UCLA in five sets on Friday.

Before the first serve, the team and the fans in Matthew Knight Arena congratulated Georgia Murphy on reaching 1,000 career digs earlier this week. After beating Utah in four sets, Oregon has sole possession of second place. 

After the celebration ended, Gloria Mutiri started the first set with back-to-back kills for the Ducks. UCLA struggled to recover Oregon’s kills, as they placed the ball well around the court. The Bruins started to catch up at 10-11, and scored four straight points quickly after that forced a Duck timeout. 

Concluding the timeout, Mimi Colyer had a kill that went between a UCLA blocker’s hands that started a rally that gave Oregon back the lead. The Ducks took set one 25-18, despite the Bruins calling two consecutive timeouts in an attempt to slow Oregon down.

Once the teams switched sides, the second set stayed close. With each team alternating a one point lead, it wasn’t until the middle of the set when the Bruins took a five point lead. Head coach Matt Ulmer called a timeout to try and get the team back on track. The Ducks brought the score back within one, but after an out of bounds kill by Oregon, UCLA was able to build a six point lead. 

With the Ducks down 17-24 and Hannah Pukis behind the line serving, Oregon scored seven straight points, which included a service ace, to bring the score back within one. It wasn’t enough as the Bruins won the second set 27-25. 

In the third set, it started the same way it did during the previous set. UCLA was able to break the cycle early on, taking a six point lead at 12-6. After a Brooke Nuneviller kill, the Ducks finally got another point on the board. After the Bruins extended their lead to 15-7, Oregon was forced to call a timeout. 

Oregon was able to string together small rallies throughout the set, but UCLA walked away with the third set to take a 2-1 lead. 

The fourth set started out with the Bruins attacking. They were in sync with each other, and everything was going in their favor. Oregon was later able to slow them down and took a three point lead. UCLA slowly chipped away at their lead, but weren’t able to catch up. The Ducks forced a fifth set. 

In the final set, Murphy had a few big digs to propel the Ducks. Between the digs, Colyer’s kills and attack errors from the Bruins, Oregon won the game 3-2.

The Ducks will continue their homestand on Nov. 20 against USC. The first serve will be at 12 p.m. and will be available to watch on Pac-12 Oregon.