Elite Field in Eugene for Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge

EUGENE, Ore. – With a field featuring four top-20 teams, the No. 11 Oregon volleyball teams hosts the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge beginning Friday at Matthew Knight Arena. The loaded field also features No. 13 Minnesota, No. 14 Stanford and No. 18 Penn State.
 
"I am really proud of our group and how hard they've been working," head coach Matt Ulmer said. "We are a bonded team, and we're on a mission and trying to get better every day. They really have stuck to that and it's paying off. You're getting some positive results. You are seeing success and all those things. I know they're really looking forward to this challenge."
 
The Pac-12 Network will televise all four matches with Rich Burk and Nicole Rigoni handling play-by-play and color commentary duties, respectively.
 
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Sept. 10
4 p.m. - #14 Stanford vs #13 Minnesota – Live Stats
7 p.m. - #11 Oregon vs #18 Penn State – Live Stats
 
Saturday, Sept. 11
4 p.m. - #14 Stanford vs #18 Penn State – Live Stats
7 p.m. - #11 Oregon vs #13 Minnesota – Live Stats
 
Last Time Out
Oregon closed out its first road trip of the season with a 3-0 triumph (25-14, 25-17, 25-23) over SMU (Sept. 3) in Houston. Brooke Nuneviller recorded a team-high 10 kills followed by Karson Bacon and Taylor Borup with eight apiece. The Ducks posted a .276 hitting percentage and, defensively, held the Mustangs to a .057 efficiency. The UO defense was led by libero Georgia Murphy with 16 digs while Abby Hansen put up a match-high six total blocks.
 
Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week: Brooke Nuneviller
Nuneviller put down a conference-leading 31 kills in the Ducks' four-set win at Rice (Sept. 2) and tallied 21 digs to complete the first 30-20 performance in the NCAA this season. She committed just six errors in 74 attempts, good for a .338 hitting percentage against the Owls. In the following match, Nuneviller posted 12.5 points—10 kills, three total blocks and an ace—in a sweep of SMU (Sept. 3). In two matches last week, the Chandler, Ariz., native averaged 6.57 points per set, 5.86 kills per set coupled with a .284 hitting percentage and 4.29 digs per set. Nuneviller earned the sixth Pac-12 weekly honor of her career.
 
Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week: Georgia Murphy
Playing back in her home state of Texas, Murphy led the Ducks' defensive charge with 5.43 digs per set during the two-match road trip last weekend. She picked up a season-high 22 digs in the four-set win vs Rice (Sept. 2), and with the 20th, she reached the 700 mark for her career. Murphy, then, led all players with 16 digs in a straight-set win over SMU (Sept. 3), and helped hold the Mustangs to a season-low .057 hitting percentage. Murphy now has two Pac-12 weekly honors in her career.
 
Nothing Hits the Floor
The Ducks' 97 digs in the team's four-set win at Rice (Sept. 2) are the eighth most by the program since the start of the rally scoring era in 2001, and the most since Oregon had 94 digs against Minnesota in a Sweet Sixteen matchup in 2018. Five UO players had double-digit digs in the match against Rice: Georgia Murphy (22), Brooke Nuneviller (21), Taylor Borup (19), Elise Ferreira (15) and Becca Morse (12). Oregon leads the Pac-12 with 17.31 digs per set and a .104 opponent hitting percentage.
 
Borup Provides Steady Hand in Texas
During the team's two-match road trip, Taylor Borup averaged 3.00 kills per set—while hitting .340—and 3.86 digs per set. She had 13 kills and tied a career high with 19 digs in the Ducks' four-set win at Rice (Sept. 2). Through the first two weeks of the season, Borup is averaging 2.38 kills per set—with a .305 hitting percentage—and 2.75 digs per set.
 
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