Ducks Post Road Sweep at Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. – Powered by 19 kills from Brooke Nuneviller, the No. 18 Oregon volleyball team beat 19th-ranked Stanford in straight set Thursday night at Maples Pavilion. The victory gave the program its first-ever season sweep of the Cardinal, and marked the Ducks' first road win in the series since 2011.
With the win, Oregon improved to 17-6 this season with an 8-5 tally in Pac-12 play. In the first meeting this season, the Ducks posted a five-set triumph over Stanford (Oct. 10) at Matthew Knight Arena.
Up Next: The Ducks remain in the Bay Area for Sunday's match at Cal. First serve of the weekend finale is scheduled for 12 p.m. (PT) at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley. Oregon won the first meeting earlier this year (Oct. 8), a straight-set victory in Eugene.
Nuneviller led all players with those 19 kills which she coupled with a .310 hitting percentage and nine digs. She was joined in double figures by Morgan Lewis who put down 10 kills—.412 efficiency—against the Cardinal.
Defensively, libero Georgia Murphy picked up a match-high 15 digs to go along with three service aces. Setter Kylie Robinson had 23 assists and 10 digs to complete her eighth double-double of the season. In total, the Ducks recorded 50 digs in the sweep and held Stanford under .200--.196, to be exact—for the second time this season.
Oregon also finished the night with 11.0 total team blocks, its highest three-set figure since the team's non-conference finale at American (Sept. 17). Kiara Robey had a season-high seven total blocks in the match while Karson Bacon and Gloria Mutiri each added four blocks.
In an evenly played opening frame, the Ducks had to fight off a set point with Stanford holding a 24-23 advantage. Lewis registered a kill on the next point. An ace by Robey gave Oregon a set point of its own at 25-24 but the home team ended the ensuing rally with a kill to pull even. However, the Ducks sealed the first set with back-to-back kills from Taylor Williams and Nuneviller.
Nuneviller had the final kill in each of Thursday's three sets.
Oregon recorded seven service aces against the Cardinal to tie its high during Pac-12 play this season. The team also had seven aces against Oregon State (Sept. 22) and USC (Oct. 24).
With the score tied at 11-all in the second set, UO reeled off six of the next eight points to take a 17-13 lead, capping the surge with another kill by Nuneviller. Thanks to a service error by Stanford (12-9, 7-6) the Ducks arrived at set point with a 24-21 advantage. The Cardinal won the next two points to force a timeout from head coach Matt Ulmer.
Out of the timeout, Robinson hung one up to Nuneviller on the right side which she terminated for the 2-0 match lead.
Stanford led early in set three and, aside from two ties, built a lead as large as five points at 17-12 and 18-13. The Ducks began to chip away at the deficit but didn't pull even until Williams tallied a kill to tie the score at 23-all. Bacon and Williams combined for two blocks during the rally. The Ducks turned to Nuneviller on the next two points and she responded with kills to clinch the program's first-ever sweep against the Cardinal.
Oregon's previous wins in the series had all come in five sets. In closing out the match, the Ducks tallied a .324 hitting percentage in the third set.
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