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UCLA women's volleyball team leaves Fight in the Fort with 2 wins

On the way to Texas, the Bruins shook off the dust and put on their boots.

The UCLA women's volleyball team (5-2) traveled to Fort Worth, Texas, to participate in the Fight in the Fort, facing Prairie View A&M (2-8), Texas A&M-Commerce (2-7) and No. 25 TCU (5-2). In the end, the Bruins went home with two wins on Thursday and a loss on Friday.

UCLA defeated both A&M schools, limiting them to 18 points or less in each set.

New and old faces alike rose to the challenge and the team consistently achieved a batting average of .362 in both games.

“We had a lot of people helping out,” said coach Alfee Reft. “We played two games and saw a lot of people play.”

In their first game on Thursday, the Bruins were joined by three-time All-Pac-12 sophomore Anna Dodson.The middle blocker had a game-high 14 kills and hit for a .545 hit percentage. Dodson also had a big impact on defense, missing a double-double by just one block.

The Bruins defense was equally impressive, holding the Panthers' shooting percentage to -0.12.

Junior outside hitter Cheridyn Leverette reached double-digit kills for the fifth consecutive game. The Bruins hit .409 in the final set and took a clear 25-11 victory – their biggest win of the season.

Thursday afternoon was no different as the Bruins secured their second win of the trip.

Against the Lions, the Bruins continued their strong offensive performance, posting a batting average above .300 for the third consecutive game. Freshman outside hitter Kiki Horne led the way with 14 kills and a .355 slugging percentage, while the team as a whole posted a .378 batting average with just nine attack errors. Junior outside hitter Grayce Olson also reached double figures with 10 kills and a .409 slugging percentage.

“We do a really good job of understanding the hitting tendencies and talking to the blocking coaches,” Olson said.

Thursday's doubleheader prepared UCLA for its game against TCU, which it lost 3-1 – the Bruins' second loss to a higher-ranked opponent this season.

The Horned Frogs woke up the Bruins in the first set and were able to assert control throughout the rest of the game, limiting the Bruins to a .228 hitting percentage throughout the game – far lower than in Thursday's games.

A brief 3-0 run by the Bruins brought them closer, cutting the gap to four in the first set. Their comeback attempts were unsuccessful, however, and the Frogs secured the set 25-19, holding the Bruins to a hitting percentage of .143.

The Bruins won the second set 25-23, but their efforts were not enough to ultimately defeat the Frogs.. In the third set, both teams traded set points in a hard-fought match. During the back-and-forth battle, neither team was able to gain more than a three-point lead. Leverette and Horne traded kills until UCLA gained a slight lead with a two-point lead at 23-21. However, TCU rallied in the final moments and took set point with three points in a row.

TCU narrowly beat UCLA in the third and fourth sets – with scores of 28-26 and 25-21, respectively – while the Frogs outscored the Bruins by 0.092 points in the third set and 0.110 points in the fourth.

TCU outside hitter Melanie Parra was the star performer, posting 33 kills, nine digs and two service aces while hitting .373.

“I think we stood up to them and tried our best, but their outside positions were really good,” said setter and sophomore Audrey Pak.

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