Sunday, October 21
Eugene, OR
11:00 AM
University of Oregon
1
vs
3
Stanford
Photo by: Samuel Marshall
Strong Start Ends In Four-Set Loss
10/21/18 | Women's Volleyball
The Oregon volleyball team exploded out of the blocks and led No. 2 Stanford after one set Sunday, but the Cardinal rallied to win the match.
EUGENE, Ore. — A rousing first set got the No. 16 Oregon volleyball team off to a strong start Sunday afternoon against Stanford, but the No. 2 Cardinal stormed back to win three straight sets and the match, 16-25, 25-21, 25-17, 25-15.
The Ducks hit .412 in the opening set and held Stanford to .147 hitting, and led late in the second set 19-18. But the Cardinal rallied to win that one, then took advantage of four UO service errors early in the third to grab ahold of momentum for the rest of the afternoon in Matthew Knight Arena.
In a match between two of the most aggressive serving teams in the Pac-12, Stanford actually finished with more services errors, eight to Oregon's seven. But the Cardinal's aggressiveness resulted in 10 reception errors for the Ducks, while the Cardinal committed just one in the match.
"We're not ready to sustain at that level yet," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "I thought we followed our game plan pretty much to a T in the first set and a half. They started getting some pressure on us in serve receive, and then we started to panic. We started to lose focus on what we were doing, and focus on what they were doing."
How It Happened: The first set was tied when the Ducks scored three straight points to lead 10-7. After the Cardinal tried to respond, Oregon scored another five in a row to go up 15-9. It was 20-14 when Ronika Stone slid outside for a massive kill that kept the energy on Oregon's side, and Lauren Page finished off the set with a kill of the Stanford block. Oregon ended up hitting .412 in the first set, to the Cardinal's .147.
The second set went back-and-forth, with Stone blocking reigning national player of the year Kathryn Plummer and Brooke Van Sickle recording a kill off the block to put Oregon up 19-18. But Stanford scored six of the next seven points to wrestle control of the momentum, and evened the match at a set apiece. Oregon kept up its efficient attack by hitting .310, but Stanford rebounded to hit .419.
An Oregon service error provided an ominous start to the third set. The Ducks never could get traction, with service errors also providing points that put Stanford up 4-2, 6-4 and 12-10. Having missed those opportunities to build an early lead, the Ducks didn't have enough cushion to absorb a 10-2 run by the Cardinal that made it 23-13. Willow Johnson got hot on the right side to close the gap a little, but the Cardinal ended it at 25-17, despite being outhit by the Ducks, .346 to .333.
By the fourth set, Stanford had found its stride. Occasionally scoring around a wall of three Oregon blockers, Plummer showed the talent that made her national player of the year, finishing the match with 19 kills and three aces. The Cardinal hit .448 to Oregon's .094 in the final set, overwhelming the Ducks, 25-15.
Who Stood Out: Lindsey Vander Weide continued her recent surge with a team-high 13 kills, though she was also tasked with handling those aggressive Stanford serves and had five reception errors. Van Sickle added 12 kills and Johnson had 11, with August Raskie providing a typical well-rounded effort with four kills, 44 assists and 10 digs.
What It Means: The Ducks took a set from a top-five team for the fifth time this season, but also dropped to 1-4 in those five matches. The talent is there for Oregon to compete with the nation's elite, if only the Ducks could harness some consistency on that stage.
Quotable:
Head coach Matt Ulmer
On the inability to sustain the level of play from the first set
"The first set is what we're capable of; we have to keep working to be able to sustain that level. … That's the last piece for us; that's a really big piece though. That's the difference between the Sweet Sixteen and the Final Four."
Senior Lindsey Vander Weide
On Stanford's aggressive serve
"I don't think they're afraid to make errors, to they got us out of system a lot."
Notable: Stone is now alone at No. 7 in UO history with 277 career block assists … Raskie recorded her team-leading 10th double-double … Brooke Nuneviller now has double-digit digs in 12 straight matches … Oregon moves to 7-3 at home this season and 4-5 against ranked opponents.
Up Next: The Ducks go on the road to face Arizona State on Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
The Ducks hit .412 in the opening set and held Stanford to .147 hitting, and led late in the second set 19-18. But the Cardinal rallied to win that one, then took advantage of four UO service errors early in the third to grab ahold of momentum for the rest of the afternoon in Matthew Knight Arena.
In a match between two of the most aggressive serving teams in the Pac-12, Stanford actually finished with more services errors, eight to Oregon's seven. But the Cardinal's aggressiveness resulted in 10 reception errors for the Ducks, while the Cardinal committed just one in the match.
"We're not ready to sustain at that level yet," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "I thought we followed our game plan pretty much to a T in the first set and a half. They started getting some pressure on us in serve receive, and then we started to panic. We started to lose focus on what we were doing, and focus on what they were doing."
How It Happened: The first set was tied when the Ducks scored three straight points to lead 10-7. After the Cardinal tried to respond, Oregon scored another five in a row to go up 15-9. It was 20-14 when Ronika Stone slid outside for a massive kill that kept the energy on Oregon's side, and Lauren Page finished off the set with a kill of the Stanford block. Oregon ended up hitting .412 in the first set, to the Cardinal's .147.
The second set went back-and-forth, with Stone blocking reigning national player of the year Kathryn Plummer and Brooke Van Sickle recording a kill off the block to put Oregon up 19-18. But Stanford scored six of the next seven points to wrestle control of the momentum, and evened the match at a set apiece. Oregon kept up its efficient attack by hitting .310, but Stanford rebounded to hit .419.
An Oregon service error provided an ominous start to the third set. The Ducks never could get traction, with service errors also providing points that put Stanford up 4-2, 6-4 and 12-10. Having missed those opportunities to build an early lead, the Ducks didn't have enough cushion to absorb a 10-2 run by the Cardinal that made it 23-13. Willow Johnson got hot on the right side to close the gap a little, but the Cardinal ended it at 25-17, despite being outhit by the Ducks, .346 to .333.
By the fourth set, Stanford had found its stride. Occasionally scoring around a wall of three Oregon blockers, Plummer showed the talent that made her national player of the year, finishing the match with 19 kills and three aces. The Cardinal hit .448 to Oregon's .094 in the final set, overwhelming the Ducks, 25-15.
Who Stood Out: Lindsey Vander Weide continued her recent surge with a team-high 13 kills, though she was also tasked with handling those aggressive Stanford serves and had five reception errors. Van Sickle added 12 kills and Johnson had 11, with August Raskie providing a typical well-rounded effort with four kills, 44 assists and 10 digs.
What It Means: The Ducks took a set from a top-five team for the fifth time this season, but also dropped to 1-4 in those five matches. The talent is there for Oregon to compete with the nation's elite, if only the Ducks could harness some consistency on that stage.
Quotable:
Head coach Matt Ulmer
On the inability to sustain the level of play from the first set
"The first set is what we're capable of; we have to keep working to be able to sustain that level. … That's the last piece for us; that's a really big piece though. That's the difference between the Sweet Sixteen and the Final Four."
Senior Lindsey Vander Weide
On Stanford's aggressive serve
"I don't think they're afraid to make errors, to they got us out of system a lot."
Notable: Stone is now alone at No. 7 in UO history with 277 career block assists … Raskie recorded her team-leading 10th double-double … Brooke Nuneviller now has double-digit digs in 12 straight matches … Oregon moves to 7-3 at home this season and 4-5 against ranked opponents.
Up Next: The Ducks go on the road to face Arizona State on Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
