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Junior Heather Cullen, seen here against Oregon State University, and the women's volleyball team

It was a momentary setback in a an otherwise flawless performance.

After easily taking the lead and sweeping its first two games, the UCLA women’s volleyball team abruptly lost control of its match against Oregon in the third game. But the No. 9 Bruins wrested the momentum back from the Ducks in game four, winning in four games 30-23, 30-20, 29-31, and 30-22.

“We switched up our rotations, and we tried a few new things, but it didn’t feel comfortable with everybody playing new positions,” middle blocker Brynn Murphy said.

The lineup switch coupled with the Ducks’ renewed intensity allowed the home team to take control of the net, and ultimately the third game.

This shaky encounter was fortunately brief for UCLA, as they swiftly changed back to their original lineup in the fourth game, and took home the victory. UCLA improved to 15-4, 7-3 Pac-10 while Oregon (3-16, 0-10 Pac-10) lost its 10th consecutive conference match.

Thursday’s match came in the middle of a five-match road trip, which has included exhausting five-game matches against No. 5 Cal and No. 7 Stanford.

While UCLA did falter in game three against Oregon, it was only a minor setback.

“We came back in the fourth game, got back into rhythm, and we felt great. It just shows that we can return from something like that,” Murphy said.

“I think we distributed things pretty well,” coach Andy Banachowski added. “In the end, our serving, passing, and attacking was a little bit better than theirs.”

The Bruins hit a solid .224 held down the Ducks to .133. While UCLA’s greatest strength was its team chemistry, the combination of players on court allowed many individuals to shine.

Outside hitter Brittany Ringel led the Bruins with 17 kills, and middle blocker Cira Wright contributed 15 kills and 19 digs. Outside hitter Heather Cullen and middle blocker Nancy Barba each notched 5 kills. Overall, the team matched Oregon with 9 blocks.

While freshman outside hitter Colby Lyman was unable to play due to an eye infection, fellow freshman Becky Green filled in for her and contributed 13 kills and 10 digs.

“It’s a breath of fresh air to start the second half of the Pac-10 having accomplished so much already,” Ringel said. “This just shows that our team can put anybody in any position and compete.”

The Bruins will continue their road trip tonight against Oregon State in Corvallis.