Sunday, September 23
Eugene, OR
12:00 PM
University of Oregon
3
vs
2
Washington State
Photo by: Samuel Marshall
Ducks Rally to Beat No. 22 WSU in Five-Set Thriller
09/23/18 | Women's Volleyball
EUGENE, Ore. – After dropping the first and third sets to fall into a 2-1 deficit on Sunday afternoon, the 12th-ranked Oregon volleyball team fought all the way back to win a five-set thriller against No. 22 Washington State, 22-25, 25-22, 22-25, 25-23, 15-12, in Matthew Knight Arena.
"Honestly, that's just what I was expecting," head coach Matt Ulmer said of how the match played out. "I think it's obvious that Washington State is a very good team. They have the number one defense in the conference, and you can see why. They're a big, physical blocking team, and if you make any mistakes they are going to make you pay for it.
"I'm just really thrilled we're not going to Pullman this year."
Lindsey Vander Weide notched the first 20 kill, 20 dig performance of her career to lead the Ducks (9-3) to the win and a 2-0 start in Pac-12 play. Ronika Stone and Willow Johnson also had double-digit kill efforts, setter August Raskie joined Vander Weide with a double-double and freshman Brooke Nuneviller (below) racked up 35 digs in a stellar defensive showing.
More than 1,600 fans were in MKA Sunday for what was arguably the most exciting and back-and-forth match of the season so far, and the Ducks rewarded them with a thrilling victory to move to 6-0 at home.
"One of the things I've been stressing to (the team) is that we have to protect Matthew Knight Arena," said Ulmer. "We want to build this great culture and become one of those programs you hate to go play because the crowd is so into it. Every time we get to play in front of our fans, we want them to remember how much they enjoyed it and that they want to come back."
How it Happened: The Ducks jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the match, but the Cougars (9-3, 0-2 Pac-12) used a pair of 5-1 runs to take the lead, 16-11. WSU pushed its lead to 22-16 when Oregon began to mount a comeback with six points in eight rallies, but it wasn't enough as the Cougars took the set and a 1-0 lead. Stone paced the UO offense with six kills on .556 hitting in the opening game.
The Ducks trailed 11-8 in the second before Stone and Vander Weide fueled a 7-1 UO run to give the Ducks the lead. Vander Weide had three kills in that stretch, while Stone put down two and added a block. Sumeet Gill and Vander Weide scored back-to-back points after WSU cut it to 20-18, and a Stone kill and a Cougar error sent the match to intermission tied at a set apiece.
Oregon opened up a 6-3 lead out of the break, but the Cougars again responded with a big scoring run to take a 16-13 advantage. The Ducks scored four out of five to pull even, 20-20, but WSU came right back with three in a row and five out of seven to win the game and take a 2-1 lead.
Six kills and an ace by Vander Weide gave Oregon a 12-9 lead to start the fourth before the Cougars used a 5-0 run to move ahead, 15-13, at the media timeout. The two teams traded points to a 23-23 tie when Raskie snuck a second-touch kill down to the floor to earn set-point, and Brooke Van Sickle hammered a kill of the WSU block to send the Ducks to a fifth set for the second time this season.
Oregon scored the first two points of the fifth, but the Cougars fought right back with five out of seven to move ahead. WSU led 8-5 at the switch when the Ducks found their groove, taking the lead with a 4-0 run thanks to a pair of huge aces by Nuneviller and kills from Vander Weide and Johnson. A big block by Stone and Raskie made it 13-11, a double-touch call on WSU gave the Ducks match-point and Van Sickle delivered the final blow once again to complete the Ducks' comeback victory.
Who Stood Out: Vander Weide had a season-high 22 kills and a career-high 28 digs on what was a milestone day for the senior from Turlock, Calif., and Nuneviller was tremendous in the back row, recording the most digs (35) by a Duck since Amanda Benson in 2015. Stone hit .378 with 16 kills, while Johnson added 10 kills and Van Sickle put down eight to go with 11 digs. Raskie dished out 59 assists and dug 14 balls for her fifth double-double, and freshman Camryn Tastad (10) also had double-digit digs to help the Ducks to 103 total, the most for the program since Nov. 15, 2014.
What it Means: Ulmer has consistently called Washington State a national top-10 caliber team and the Cougars showed that ability on Sunday, making the comeback victory all that more impressive for the Ducks. Oregon made up for its lack of size compared to WSU with terrific back-row defense and clutch serving late in the match, and Vander Weide played like the all-American she was as a sophomore in 2016, a welcome sign from the Ducks' senior leader.
Milestone Day for LVW: With her career-high 28 digs on Sunday, Vander Weide surpassed the 1,000 mark in her career and became the first Duck since Liz Brenner (2011-14) to have 1,000-plus career kills, digs and points, and only the fifth player in program history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. Offensively, Vander Weide's team-high 25 points raised her career total to 1,348.0 and moved her past Ariana Williams (2010-13) for seventh in UO history. She also needs only two more blocks for 200 in her career and just 12 aces to reach 100.
Notable: Nuneviller's 35 digs are tied for the seventh-most in UO single-match history … Vander Weide recorded the seventh 20-plus kill performance of her career, and first since 2016 … Raskie dished out 50 or more assists for the fourth time this season … The Ducks have now won 25 of their last 27 against WSU … Eight total Ducks recorded at least one kill, and seven had at least four … UO has now won four straight matches.
Up Next: Oregon will continue its four-match homestand next weekend, hosting Arizona (Friday, 8 p.m.) and Arizona State (Sunday, 1 p.m.) in MKA. Sunday will be Oregon's Stomp Out Cancer match to raise awareness for childhood cancer.
"Honestly, that's just what I was expecting," head coach Matt Ulmer said of how the match played out. "I think it's obvious that Washington State is a very good team. They have the number one defense in the conference, and you can see why. They're a big, physical blocking team, and if you make any mistakes they are going to make you pay for it.
"I'm just really thrilled we're not going to Pullman this year."
Lindsey Vander Weide notched the first 20 kill, 20 dig performance of her career to lead the Ducks (9-3) to the win and a 2-0 start in Pac-12 play. Ronika Stone and Willow Johnson also had double-digit kill efforts, setter August Raskie joined Vander Weide with a double-double and freshman Brooke Nuneviller (below) racked up 35 digs in a stellar defensive showing.
More than 1,600 fans were in MKA Sunday for what was arguably the most exciting and back-and-forth match of the season so far, and the Ducks rewarded them with a thrilling victory to move to 6-0 at home.
"One of the things I've been stressing to (the team) is that we have to protect Matthew Knight Arena," said Ulmer. "We want to build this great culture and become one of those programs you hate to go play because the crowd is so into it. Every time we get to play in front of our fans, we want them to remember how much they enjoyed it and that they want to come back."
How it Happened: The Ducks jumped out to a 6-2 lead to start the match, but the Cougars (9-3, 0-2 Pac-12) used a pair of 5-1 runs to take the lead, 16-11. WSU pushed its lead to 22-16 when Oregon began to mount a comeback with six points in eight rallies, but it wasn't enough as the Cougars took the set and a 1-0 lead. Stone paced the UO offense with six kills on .556 hitting in the opening game.
The Ducks trailed 11-8 in the second before Stone and Vander Weide fueled a 7-1 UO run to give the Ducks the lead. Vander Weide had three kills in that stretch, while Stone put down two and added a block. Sumeet Gill and Vander Weide scored back-to-back points after WSU cut it to 20-18, and a Stone kill and a Cougar error sent the match to intermission tied at a set apiece.
Oregon opened up a 6-3 lead out of the break, but the Cougars again responded with a big scoring run to take a 16-13 advantage. The Ducks scored four out of five to pull even, 20-20, but WSU came right back with three in a row and five out of seven to win the game and take a 2-1 lead.
Six kills and an ace by Vander Weide gave Oregon a 12-9 lead to start the fourth before the Cougars used a 5-0 run to move ahead, 15-13, at the media timeout. The two teams traded points to a 23-23 tie when Raskie snuck a second-touch kill down to the floor to earn set-point, and Brooke Van Sickle hammered a kill of the WSU block to send the Ducks to a fifth set for the second time this season.
Oregon scored the first two points of the fifth, but the Cougars fought right back with five out of seven to move ahead. WSU led 8-5 at the switch when the Ducks found their groove, taking the lead with a 4-0 run thanks to a pair of huge aces by Nuneviller and kills from Vander Weide and Johnson. A big block by Stone and Raskie made it 13-11, a double-touch call on WSU gave the Ducks match-point and Van Sickle delivered the final blow once again to complete the Ducks' comeback victory.
Who Stood Out: Vander Weide had a season-high 22 kills and a career-high 28 digs on what was a milestone day for the senior from Turlock, Calif., and Nuneviller was tremendous in the back row, recording the most digs (35) by a Duck since Amanda Benson in 2015. Stone hit .378 with 16 kills, while Johnson added 10 kills and Van Sickle put down eight to go with 11 digs. Raskie dished out 59 assists and dug 14 balls for her fifth double-double, and freshman Camryn Tastad (10) also had double-digit digs to help the Ducks to 103 total, the most for the program since Nov. 15, 2014.
What it Means: Ulmer has consistently called Washington State a national top-10 caliber team and the Cougars showed that ability on Sunday, making the comeback victory all that more impressive for the Ducks. Oregon made up for its lack of size compared to WSU with terrific back-row defense and clutch serving late in the match, and Vander Weide played like the all-American she was as a sophomore in 2016, a welcome sign from the Ducks' senior leader.
Milestone Day for LVW: With her career-high 28 digs on Sunday, Vander Weide surpassed the 1,000 mark in her career and became the first Duck since Liz Brenner (2011-14) to have 1,000-plus career kills, digs and points, and only the fifth player in program history to record 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. Offensively, Vander Weide's team-high 25 points raised her career total to 1,348.0 and moved her past Ariana Williams (2010-13) for seventh in UO history. She also needs only two more blocks for 200 in her career and just 12 aces to reach 100.
Notable: Nuneviller's 35 digs are tied for the seventh-most in UO single-match history … Vander Weide recorded the seventh 20-plus kill performance of her career, and first since 2016 … Raskie dished out 50 or more assists for the fourth time this season … The Ducks have now won 25 of their last 27 against WSU … Eight total Ducks recorded at least one kill, and seven had at least four … UO has now won four straight matches.
Up Next: Oregon will continue its four-match homestand next weekend, hosting Arizona (Friday, 8 p.m.) and Arizona State (Sunday, 1 p.m.) in MKA. Sunday will be Oregon's Stomp Out Cancer match to raise awareness for childhood cancer.
