The opponents stood at opposite ends of the Big Ten.
But the Bruins ended up in the same place.
UCLA women’s volleyball (15–6, 6–4 Big Ten) was swept by No. 1 Nebraska (21–0, 10–0) on Thursday at the Bob Devaney Sports Center before falling to Iowa (13–11, 2–8) on Saturday at Xtream Arena in five sets. The Bruins entered the weekend facing opponents at opposite ends of the Big Ten standings, with the Cornhuskers in first place and the Hawkeyes tied for second to last.
Entering the weekend just 14 points shy of the AVCA Top 25, the combined results were a disappointment for a team looking to emerge as a threat in the Big Ten and potentially on the national stage.
“Nebraska is a great opponent, but we still weren’t necessarily proud of the way that we showed up as a team in that match,” said junior setter Kate Duffey. “It was going to be a tough game no matter what, but we think that we could have presented a better version of ourselves.”
An early 8-2 run gave the Bruins a foothold against the nation’s top team, but the Cornhuskers steadily pulled the match out of reach. After taking the opening set 25-19, the Cornhuskers used a 9-1 surge to fuel a 25-11 second-set win before closing out the sweep 25-16 in the third.
Nebraska hit .380 behind senior middle blocker Andi Jackson’s 11 kills and six blocks while UCLA’s offense stalled at a season low .036 hitting percentage.
“We knew that we were going to have to play a very, very clean, disciplined match to give ourselves any sort of shots, and we competed at moments with them,” said head coach Matt Werle. “We won some long rallies, and there was some good stuff to take away. But if we’re not doing the longevity of it with them, point for point, we’re just not ready to sustain a really high level for an entire match right now.”
Coming off the match in Lincoln, the Bruins traveled nearly 300 miles to take on the Hawkeyes – a team coming off seven consecutive losses.
UCLA’s offense found its footing early on, hitting .586 with 19 kills in the opening set, but it struggled to turn that initial control into a victory. Leading 24-21 in the second, UCLA surrendered five consecutive points to lose the frame 26-24 before dropping the third 25-22. A 25-17 fourth-set win kept the squad alive, but another five-point Iowa run erased UCLA’s 7-5 advantage in the fifth, sending the opposing squad to a 15-12 win.
Fifth-year middle blocker Marianna Singletary led all players with 19 kills on .567 hitting, while sophomore outside hitter Eliana Urzua, sophomore right side hitter Mija Bendziute and senior outside hitter Maggie Li also reached double-digit kills. Duffey supplied 48 assists and 12 digs, but Iowa countered UCLA’s offensive production with 11.5 blocks to UCLA’s seven, securing the upset.
Despite their offensive production, the Bruins struggled to deliver in the moments that mattered most, allowing the Hawkeyes to turn late-set opportunities into a victory.
“Obviously, an 0–2 weekend is hard to go down. But we’re really fired up to get back to LA and grind in practice,” Singletary said. “We talked about accountability, having accountability partners and finding out what each of us individually needs in order to be a better team as a whole.”
The squad will return home to face No. 20 Minnesota on Friday and No. 6 Wisconsin on Sunday, carrying lessons from a weekend in which flashes of strong play never translated into a win. Back at Pauley Pavilion, UCLA will look to turn its emphasis on accountability into the consistency it lacked on the road.
With the regular season winding down, the Bruins still have opportunities to shape how it ends. A demanding stretch of opponents offers UCLA a chance to recover from the weekend’s setbacks and prove it can play its best volleyball when it matters most.
“Six out of the next seven games we have our ranked opponents, so we like that we have a lot of opportunities in front of us right now,” Duffey said.
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