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Buffs Swept By Oregon’s Offense

Feb 26, 2021

EUGENE — Colorado women's volleyball suffered its second sweep in as many matches, this time against No.22-ranked Oregon 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-20) in Eugene Friday afternoon.

The Buffaloes (4-5 Pac-12) drop their fifth-straight match, all against top-25 opponents, while Oregon improves to 7-2 with the longest winning streak in the conference at six-straight, including three-straight sweeps.

The Ducks dominated offensively with nearly twice as many kills as Colorado at 61-34, including four hitters in double digits. The middles were the biggest problem for CU, as Abby Hanson and Karson Bacon combined for 24 kills with only two errors on 35 hits and a .628 hitting percentage from the center of the net.

Colorado wasn't able to get things going despite Rachael Fara posting a match-best .667 hitting percentage on eight kills without an error. Setter Jenna Ewert had a match-high 28 kills, but Oregon ran a 6-2 offense with its setter posting 27 and 23 assists. Colorado was held to a .180 hitting percentage with Sterling Parker second on the team with seven kills and Leah Clayton posting six.

Defensively, Brynna DeLuzio had a good match with 16 digs, while Jill Schneggenburger had nine. Colorado had four blocks in the match but also committed four block errors.

Oregon was led by Brooke Nuneviller who posted 11 kills and a double-double with a match-high 18 digs. Taylor Williams also posted a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Setter Kylie Robinson had 27 assists and 12 digs as well, while Bacon and Morgan Lewis both had five blocks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST SET – Oregon went on an early three-point run to a 5-2 lead. CU clawed back to a 6-5 score in the Ducks favor, but Oregon pushed to an 11-8 lead. Colorado brought it within one against at 15-14, then Oregon put down three-straight to force a Colorado timeout at 18-14. The run continued one more point before CU was able to sideout, but the Buffs were hitting .179 compared to .400 by the Ducks. Oregon earned its largest lead at 22-16, then pushed to 23-17 when CU called timeout. The middles were tearing it apart with Bacon for Oregon hitting six kills on nine swings while Fara had four on six attacks. The Ducks hit set point at 24-18 and finished it off on the next play 25-18. Bacon finished with seven kills while hitting .700.

SECOND SET – The teams battled out to a four-all tie. Colorado put together a four-point run to take a 9-5 lead and force Oregon into a timeout. The Buffs kept the lead through a 12-9 advantage, which Oregon challenged successfully to come within one. The next play the Ducks tied things up at 11 all. Two plays later, the Buffs called timeout with Bacon hitting .667 with eight kills. Oregon took the lead out of the break, then extended the lead with some blocks to 16-14. Colorado battled back to tied it at 17 all and retook the lead on a block error by Oregon, though that play was challenged. The play was unsuccessfully challenged, then a Schneggenburger kill gave CU the 20-19 lead. The Ducks strung two together, retaking the lead at 21-20. Maya Tabron got subbed in for the Buffs as she put it down for a 21 tie. CU reached set point at 24-23 off of a Fara kill, but the Ducks middles tied it back up as Hansen hit her eighth kill on 10 swings. Hansen committed an error to give CU set point number two, but Oregon had a sideout and a block error from Hart gave Oregon set point. Nuneviller finished it off with an ace as the Ducks middles were hitting .666 with 16 combined kills. Oregon was hitting .393 while Colorado was hitting .244 in the match. The largest discrepancy was in service errors with the Ducks committing eight to the Buffs two.

 

THIRD SET – The Ducks jumped out to a quick 4-1 lead looking to end the match in three. The lead was extended to 7-3, but then the Buffs began closing the gap down to 9-8 off an Ewert ace. Oregon responded with a 4-1 run, taking a 13-9 lead. The Ducks continued to pressure with a 16-12 lead with the kills count at 56-30. Another overpass forced CU into a timeout one play later at 17-13. Oregon hit the 20-point mark with its seventh block at 20-15. Colorado called timeout at 23-19. Out of the break, CU earned a sideout with a Fara kill, her eighth. Match point was earned at 24-20, finishing it off with their eighth block of the match.

 

QUOTES

Head Coach Jesse Mahoney

On the Match

"We've got to put more pressure on Oregon from the service line. We allowed them to be in-system way too often.  Oregon played great defense, but we were too tentative offensively. That's got to change Sunday."