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Dominant.
Few other words can be used to describe No. 13 UCLA women’s volleyball’s performance against Arizona on Wednesday. The Bruins (10-4, 3-2 Pac-12) swept the Wildcats (7-7, 1-4) in three sets for their second straight victory.
UCLA, which hadn’t beaten Arizona in their past three bouts, came out firing once again, collecting nine of the first 10 points to open the game – all from kills or aces. The Bruins disallowed a Wildcat rally, claiming the first set 25-15.
Arizona started to improve on the court with each passing set. The Wildcats’ hit percentage increased from .103 in the first set to .205 in the second and .294 in the third.
But the Bruins matched that trend, bettering their hitting percentage across each set as well. UCLA, despite some shaky moments in the third set, captured the final two sets 25-17 and 25-20.
It was arguably the most impressive victory for the Bruins, who had just seven errors on the night, a season-low.
Five players notched five or more kills in the quick match, with senior pin hitter Riley Buechler leading the way with 15. It was her seventh straight match with double-digit kills.
The Bruins will look to sweep the Arizona teams on the road for the first time since 2008 against Arizona State (10-6, 0-4) on Friday. The Sun Devils are in the midst of a four-game losing stretch, winning just two of 12 sets in that span.
One player has risen above the rest for Arizona State: Oluoma Okaro.
The senior pin hitter ranks 12th in the nation in kills per set – ironically behind former UCLA phenom Torrey Van Winden – at 4.61.
The Sun Devils have another pair of threats in sophomore outside hitter Ivana Jeremic and freshman pin hitter Griere Hughes, but after that, there is little depth. No other player on the squad has more than 80 kills overall.
This is your UCLA women’s volleyball vs. Arizona State game thread.