UCLA Volleyball Grabs Milestone Big Ten Win with Victory Over Ohio State

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 30, 2024

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The UCLA women's volleyball team claimed its first-ever Big Ten Conference win on Sunday afternoon, defeating Ohio State in four sets (25-16, 25-22, 23-25, 25-14) at Pauley Pavilion.

The Bruins (7-4, 1-1 Big Ten) put on a dominant display in front of their home crowd, outperforming Ohio State (7-5, 0-2 Big Ten) in nearly every statistical category.

𝐁𝐑𝐔-𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐒 🙌

UCLA takes down Ohio State in four sets for its first-ever Big Ten win!#GoBruins pic.twitter.com/w70vbtjnle

— UCLA Women's Volleyball (@UCLAWomensVB) September 29, 2024

UCLA's defense stood out, racking up 15 total blocks, with graduate middle blocker Anna Dodson leading the way with a game-high seven blocks.

"First Big Ten win for UCLA women's volleyball and it was a nice win against a great team," said head coach Alfee Reft. "I thought our team did a great job putting pressure on them from the end line. I thought our team did really nice job with the scout and adapting to some changes they made in the third set."

Graduate middle hitter Leilani Dodson had her best game in a UCLA jersey, recording a season-high 10 kills with an impressive .444 hitting percentage. She also contributed defensively, adding six blocks.

This Bruin Block 👀

See how @UCLAWomensVB blocked the Buckeyes for a set two win.#B1GVolleyball on @BigTenPlus 💻 pic.twitter.com/DuwkRMHF6k

— Big Ten Volleyball (@B1GVolleyball) September 29, 2024

Junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette continued her streak of double-digit performances, finishing with 17 kills, while freshman Kiki Horne reached double figures for the seventh time this season, tallying 12 kills.

Graduate setter Audrey Pak earned her first double-double since Sept. 1, with 38 assists and 14 digs. The Moraga, Calif. native guided the Bruins' offense to a .254 hitting percentage, including a stellar .467 in the final set.

The Bruins built upon the moment gained during their previous match against No. 2 Nebraska on Friday.

"This is such a great conference," Reft added. "I told our young women it's going to be a battle and it's a different equation with how to battle every night."

Through the first two matches of conference play, Reft has notice a "big" difference between the Pac-12 and Big Ten.

"The Big Ten is big," he said with a laugh. "I mean that across the board. The Pac-12 was a skilled conference with great volleyball players but the size of the players in the Big Ten, you gotta handle a lot of heat and a lot of power. It's just different in terms of the hits that are coming through... I'd say that probably the biggest difference is the power that is coming across the net."

UCLA will stay at Pauley Pavilion for its next match against No. 16 Minnesota on Friday, Oct. 4 at 7 p.m. Fans can catch the action live on B1G+.