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Ducks, Alumnae Put on Show in MKA Image
Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Ducks, Alumnae Put on Show in MKA

08/18/18 | Women's Volleyball

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon volleyball team got its final live tune-up before the start of the 2018 season under the lights of Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday night, playing five tight sets in the annual alumnae match.  

Oregon officially fell, 20-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21, 15-8, to an "alumnae" team made up of former Ducks Taylor Agost, Maggie Scott, Lauren Plum and Marine Hall-Poirier as well as a few players from the current roster, providing the Ducks with further motivation as they prepare to open up against No. 3 Texas at the VERT Challenge in Lincoln, Neb., on Friday. 

"Any exhibition when you're playing each other is always interesting because the teams know each other so well, and the alums that played have been playing and practicing with us in the gym all week," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "I think there was good and bad on both sides.

"Overall, our best players are going to have to be great if we're going to go a long way. Lindsey Vander Weide, August Raskie and Ronika Stone, they're going to have to really carry us and then everybody else will be really nice complementary pieces. And tonight, I thought the three of them were not very good, and generally that's not the case. So I liked a lot of things considering the three of them weren't great."

How it Happened: The first set was tied, 15-15, before a kill by Raskie gave the Ducks the lead, and a series of errors by the "alumnae" made it 21-16. Oregon led 23-20 when Sumeet Gill put down a kill and Vander Weide followed with an ace to give the Ducks the first-set victory. Agost and UO senior Lauren Page took over for the "alumnae" team in the second set, combining for 10 kills to even the match at intermission.

The third set went back and forth, with the two sides playing to a 21-21 tie. Ronika Stone gave the Ducks a two-point lead after an Agost error, and Lindsey Vander Weide gave Oregon set-point before an error gave the Ducks the 25-22 victory. Kills by Plum and Hall-Poirier, an undergraduate assistant for the Ducks this season, gave the "alumnae" a 20-17 advantage in the fourth set. A kill by Willow Johnson and ace by freshman Brooke Nuneviler cut the Ducks' deficit to two, but freshman Karson Bacon put down a kill to earn set-point before a Ducks' error ended the set and forced a fifth game. The "alumnae" ran out to a 9-2 lead in the fifth behind five kills from Agost and Plum, and then scored the final three points to win the match. 

"I want us to be great everyday, and I know that's kind of a silly thing to ask, but we need to be consistently great because of the schedule we play," said Ulmer. "We can't go up and down and we can't have these swings like we've had.

"I just hope this is a wake-up call just in terms of how exactly you need to prepare. If you don't bring your best against our schedule, you're not going to win. So hopefully you learn the lesson this way when it doesn't hurt you that you have to be mentally and emotionally prepared every day."

Who Stood Out: Johnson had an efficient night on the attack with 11 kills on .348 hitting, while Vander Weide led the Ducks with 12 kills. Stone had 10, and both Gill and Brooke Van Sickle had eight. Raskie dished out 29 assists while freshman Kylie Robinson had 17, and Nuneviller led all players with 22 digs and three service aces. 

"I thought Brooke Nuneviler did a really nice job tonight," said Ulmer. "She impressed me and was just really solid all night."

Agost, who just graduated last spring and will leave soon to begin her professional career in Germany, carried the offense for the "alumnae", leading all players with 28 swings while taking 73 total swings and adding nine blocks. Plum, the 2012 Pac-10 setter of the year for the Ducks, nearly had a triple-double with nine kills, 24 assists and seven digs. Page had 10 total kills while playing both sides, and freshman Chandler Duff impressed with eight total blocks and five kills. 

Up Next: The Ducks will have a couple more practices before taking off for Lincoln. Oregon will open its season against No. 3 Texas at 1:30 p.m. PT on Friday before facing No. 2 ranked and defending national champions Nebraska on its home court at 4 p.m. PT on Saturday.