Program-Record Five Ducks Earn AVCA All-America Honors
12/12/18 | Women's Volleyball
EUGENE, Ore. - After a memorable 2018 season highlighted by its second ever run to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, the Oregon volleyball team made more history on Wednesday as a program-record five Ducks earned all-America honors from the America Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA).
Junior Ronika Stone was named to one of the AVCA all-America teams for the first time in her career, earning a spot on the second team to lead the way for the Ducks. Seniors August Raskie and Lindsey Vander Weide both landed on the third team to close out tremendous careers at Oregon, and junior Willow Johnson joined freshman standout Brooke Nuneviller as an all-America honorable mention pick.
Stone is the first Duck to earn second-team all-America honors since Liz Brenner accomplished the feat three years in a row (2012-14), and Vander Weide – a third-team selectin as a sophomore in 2016 - became the first two-time all-American since Brenner. With Raskie also landing on the third team, Oregon has three players on the three all-America teams for the first time since 2012 (Alaina Bergsma, 1st; Lauren Plum, 1st; Brenner, 2nd), and five total players earning all-America recognition is the most in program history.
There are 14 players on each of the three AVCA all-America teams, and 85 total players received honorable mention recognition.
Ronika Stone – AVCA All-America Second Team
An honorable mention selection in 2017, Stone took her game to the next level as a junior with career-highs of 3.87 points, 3.02 kills and 1.19 blocks per set while hitting a team-high .342. She shined on the brightest stage, racking up a career-high 20 kills on .500 hitting in Oregon's Sweet Sixteen upset of No. 2 Minnesota in Minneapolis, including the match-winner to send the Ducks to the Elite Eight and secure her a spot on the Minneapolis Regional all-tournament team. Also an AVCA Pacific North All-Region and All-Pac-12 selection, Stone finished fourth in UO single-season history in block assists (130) and ninth in hitting percentage. The San Jose, Calif., native will enter her senior season already tied for second in program history with 332 career block assists, just 57 shy of the record (389, Neticia Enesi).
August Raskie – AVCA All-America Third Team
Raskie flourished as a senior in her first season running a 5-1 offense for the Ducks, ranking sixth in the nation with 11.79 assists per set. Like Stone, Raskie also put all of her talents on display in Oregon's thrilling Sweet Sixteen win over the Gophers, recording her second triple-double with 60 assists, 11 digs and 10 kills to land her on the Minnesota Regional all-tournament team. The Colorado Springs, Colo., native also had a triple-double (41 A, 11 D, 10 K) on October 12 in her home state against Colorado, the first triple-double by a Duck since 2001. Raskie owns just the 17th and 18th triple-doubles in program history, and she is one of only four Ducks ever to have multiple triple-doubles. Raskie is fourth in single-season history in total assists (1,486) and sixth in assists per set, and her 2,929 career assists are fifth all-time at Oregon.
Lindsey Vander Weide – AVCA All-America Third Team
Vander Weide capped one of the most accomplished careers in program history with her best year as a senior, averaging career-highs of 4.04 points, 3.51 kills and 2.98 digs per set. An All-Pac-12 selection for the third time, Vander Weide was terrific from the start of Pac-12 play through Oregon's NCAA Tournament run, including 39 total kills in her final two matches at Matthew Knight Arena to lead the Ducks into the Sweet Sixteen. Only the fifth player in program history to have 1,000-plus kills and digs, Vander Weide closes her Oregon career at No. 4 all-time in points (1,687), No. 5 in total attacks (3,985), No. 6 in both kills (1,447) and digs (1,242) and No. 9 in service aces (108). Vander Weide is just the sixth Duck to earn multiple career all-America awards.
Willow Johnson – AVCA All-America Honorable Mention
Johnson was a threat on the right side all year for the Ducks, ranking third on the team with a career-high 2.76 kills per set on .312 hitting. She shined in her junior debut with a then-career-high 17 kills on .517 hitting vs. Texas to earn a spot on the VERT Challenge all-tournament team, and then bested that with 18 kills on .441 hitting against Colorado on November 16. Johnson emerged as a serious threat at the service line in the NCAA Tournament, racking up four aces in the first round against New Mexico State and three against Baylor after entering the postseason with one in her career. The Paradise Valley, Ariz., native recorded her first career double-double in UO's Sweet Sixteen upset of Minnesota with 15 kills (.333) and a career-high 10 digs.
Brooke Nuneviller – AVCA All-America Honorable Mention
The AVCA Pacific North Region freshman of the year, Nuneviller was stellar as a true freshman with 4.92 digs per set as Oregon's libero. Nuneviller ranks second in the Pac-12 and 57th nationally in digs per set, and her 580 total digs are third-most in UO single-season history, just 19 shy of Katie Swoboda's record from 2008 (599). The Chandler, Ariz., native will enter her sophomore season with an active streak of 26 straight matches with double-digit digs, and she notched 11 matches with 20-plus digs and two with 30 or more. Nuneviller racked up 25 digs and multiple highlight-reel plays in the Sweet Sixteen against Minnesota, earning a spot on the all-tournament team, and her 35 digs on September 23 vs. Washington State are tied for seventh-most in single-match history. The four-time Pac-12 freshman of the week was also strong at the service line with 32 aces, just one behind Vander Weide for the team lead.
Junior Ronika Stone was named to one of the AVCA all-America teams for the first time in her career, earning a spot on the second team to lead the way for the Ducks. Seniors August Raskie and Lindsey Vander Weide both landed on the third team to close out tremendous careers at Oregon, and junior Willow Johnson joined freshman standout Brooke Nuneviller as an all-America honorable mention pick.
Stone is the first Duck to earn second-team all-America honors since Liz Brenner accomplished the feat three years in a row (2012-14), and Vander Weide – a third-team selectin as a sophomore in 2016 - became the first two-time all-American since Brenner. With Raskie also landing on the third team, Oregon has three players on the three all-America teams for the first time since 2012 (Alaina Bergsma, 1st; Lauren Plum, 1st; Brenner, 2nd), and five total players earning all-America recognition is the most in program history.
There are 14 players on each of the three AVCA all-America teams, and 85 total players received honorable mention recognition.
Ronika Stone – AVCA All-America Second Team
An honorable mention selection in 2017, Stone took her game to the next level as a junior with career-highs of 3.87 points, 3.02 kills and 1.19 blocks per set while hitting a team-high .342. She shined on the brightest stage, racking up a career-high 20 kills on .500 hitting in Oregon's Sweet Sixteen upset of No. 2 Minnesota in Minneapolis, including the match-winner to send the Ducks to the Elite Eight and secure her a spot on the Minneapolis Regional all-tournament team. Also an AVCA Pacific North All-Region and All-Pac-12 selection, Stone finished fourth in UO single-season history in block assists (130) and ninth in hitting percentage. The San Jose, Calif., native will enter her senior season already tied for second in program history with 332 career block assists, just 57 shy of the record (389, Neticia Enesi).
August Raskie – AVCA All-America Third Team
Raskie flourished as a senior in her first season running a 5-1 offense for the Ducks, ranking sixth in the nation with 11.79 assists per set. Like Stone, Raskie also put all of her talents on display in Oregon's thrilling Sweet Sixteen win over the Gophers, recording her second triple-double with 60 assists, 11 digs and 10 kills to land her on the Minnesota Regional all-tournament team. The Colorado Springs, Colo., native also had a triple-double (41 A, 11 D, 10 K) on October 12 in her home state against Colorado, the first triple-double by a Duck since 2001. Raskie owns just the 17th and 18th triple-doubles in program history, and she is one of only four Ducks ever to have multiple triple-doubles. Raskie is fourth in single-season history in total assists (1,486) and sixth in assists per set, and her 2,929 career assists are fifth all-time at Oregon.
Lindsey Vander Weide – AVCA All-America Third Team
Vander Weide capped one of the most accomplished careers in program history with her best year as a senior, averaging career-highs of 4.04 points, 3.51 kills and 2.98 digs per set. An All-Pac-12 selection for the third time, Vander Weide was terrific from the start of Pac-12 play through Oregon's NCAA Tournament run, including 39 total kills in her final two matches at Matthew Knight Arena to lead the Ducks into the Sweet Sixteen. Only the fifth player in program history to have 1,000-plus kills and digs, Vander Weide closes her Oregon career at No. 4 all-time in points (1,687), No. 5 in total attacks (3,985), No. 6 in both kills (1,447) and digs (1,242) and No. 9 in service aces (108). Vander Weide is just the sixth Duck to earn multiple career all-America awards.
Willow Johnson – AVCA All-America Honorable Mention
Johnson was a threat on the right side all year for the Ducks, ranking third on the team with a career-high 2.76 kills per set on .312 hitting. She shined in her junior debut with a then-career-high 17 kills on .517 hitting vs. Texas to earn a spot on the VERT Challenge all-tournament team, and then bested that with 18 kills on .441 hitting against Colorado on November 16. Johnson emerged as a serious threat at the service line in the NCAA Tournament, racking up four aces in the first round against New Mexico State and three against Baylor after entering the postseason with one in her career. The Paradise Valley, Ariz., native recorded her first career double-double in UO's Sweet Sixteen upset of Minnesota with 15 kills (.333) and a career-high 10 digs.
Brooke Nuneviller – AVCA All-America Honorable Mention
The AVCA Pacific North Region freshman of the year, Nuneviller was stellar as a true freshman with 4.92 digs per set as Oregon's libero. Nuneviller ranks second in the Pac-12 and 57th nationally in digs per set, and her 580 total digs are third-most in UO single-season history, just 19 shy of Katie Swoboda's record from 2008 (599). The Chandler, Ariz., native will enter her sophomore season with an active streak of 26 straight matches with double-digit digs, and she notched 11 matches with 20-plus digs and two with 30 or more. Nuneviller racked up 25 digs and multiple highlight-reel plays in the Sweet Sixteen against Minnesota, earning a spot on the all-tournament team, and her 35 digs on September 23 vs. Washington State are tied for seventh-most in single-match history. The four-time Pac-12 freshman of the week was also strong at the service line with 32 aces, just one behind Vander Weide for the team lead.
