Season-Opening Weekend in Portland

EUGENE, Ore. – The 55th season of Oregon Volleyball begins Saturday at the Rose City Showdown in Portland, Ore., with matches against Long Beach State and host Portland State. Along with Pac-12 mate Oregon State, three of the state's four Division I programs will be in action at Viking Pavilion.
 
How to Watch, Follow and Listen
Saturday, Aug. 27 vs Long Beach State – 2 p.m. – Live Stats | KWVA (88.1 FM)
Sunday, Aug. 28 at Portland State – 1 p.m. – ESPN+ | Live Stats | KWVA (88.1 FM)
 
First Serve
The 55th season of Oregon Volleyball begins Saturday at the Rose City Showdown in Portland, Ore., with matches against Long Beach State and host Portland State. Both matches will be carried by KWVA (88.1 FM) while Sunday's match against PSU will be streamed on ESPN+ with Ben Creighton handling play-by-play duties.
 
Series History
Oregon and Long Beach State first met in 1973 but have only played eight times. The Ducks won the last two meetings, one in 2006 and the most recent in 2018, a straight-set victory in Eugene. LBSU leads the all-time series, 5-3. Oregon looks to continue its recent dominance against Portland State having won 12 of the past 13 matches dating back to 2004.
 
It's A Start
Oregon will begin the 2022 season as the 19th-ranked team in the AVCA Top 25 preseason poll. Additionally, UO received one first-place vote, and were picked to finish fourth in the Pac-12 by the league's head coaches. Brooke Nuneviller and Hannah Pukis both earned spots on the Preseason All-Pac-12 Team.
 
Back For More 
On the heels of back-to-back AVCA All-America Second Team campaigns, senior outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller is back for her season season in Eugene. The reigning AVCA Pacific North Region Player of the Year averaged 3.96 kills per set to go along with 3.19 digs per set last fall.
 
Pukis Leads Crew of Newcomers            
Hannah Pukis, a transfer from Washington State, is an AVCA Pacific North All-Region setter and was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention pick after the 2021 spring campaign. This past season, Pukis was fifth in the Pac-12 with 10.30 assists per set and added 2.55 digs per set. The Ducks also welcome in a freshman class of three featuring Ayva Cebollero (Plain City, Utah), Mimi Colyer (Lincoln, Calif.) and Maya de los Reyes (Long Beach, Calif.)
 
Almost There   
Senior opposite Gloria Mutiri enters the 2022 campaign with 990 career kills, just 10 shy of reaching the 1,000 milestone. The Sand Springs, Okla., native is also 63 kills away from 500 during her UO career. Mutiri came to Eugene after two years (2018-19) at Kansas State where she collected 553 kills.
 
Extra Bacon
Karson Bacon, the UO single-season record holder for hitting percentage, will see a familiar face across the net Saturday in the Ducks' opener against Long Beach State: younger sister Kameron, a sophomore middle for the Beach. Karson hit .413 last fall which ranked second in the Pac-12 and 12th nationally.
 
Nothing Hits the Floor
The Ducks return standout libero Georgia Murphy (4.29 d/s, 34 aces) who was an AVCA All-America Honorable Mention performer last fall. She reached 1,000 career digs last season and anchored an Oregon floor defense that led the Pac-12 at 15.52 digs per set. Collectively, the Ducks held opponents to a league-leading .181 hitting percentage last year.
 
Ties to the Beach
The UO coaching staff knows a thing or two about Long Beach State, Saturday's season-opening opponent. Matt Ulmer came to Eugene after seven seasons at LBSU, including five as a full-time assistant. He also led Long Beach to an NCAA title in beach volleyball in 2013. Erika Dillard played for LBSU (2001-05) where she was a three-time All-Big West selection, and then coached at her alma mater for eight years (2009-16), including five seasons along side Ulmer. Tayyiba Haneef-Park was a 2001 AVCA First-Team All-American at Long Beach State and led the team to a national runner-up finish that same year. She was also a redshirt freshman on the 1998 team that won the NCAA title.
 
Across the Net 
Oregon is one of seven Pac-12 teams recognized in the AVCA Top 25 preseason poll along with Washington (8), UCLA (12), Stanford (14), Utah (22), USC (24) and Washington State (RV). Four of the Ducks' non-conference opponents were also part of the initial poll: Minnesota (5), Penn State (20), Miami (RV) and Rice (RV).
 
Up Next
The Ducks' 2022 home opener is Sept. 1 against UC Davis as part of the three-day Oregon Invitational. The team will also face Rice that Sunday, Sept. 3 at Matthew Knight Arena. Both matches are scheduled for a 6 p.m. start. The middle day of the Invitational will feature a neutral-site match between UC Davis and Rice. Click HERE for Oregon's complete schedule.
 
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