Ducks Start Hot, Sweep Washington at MKA
EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 16 Oregon volleyball won the first six points of Friday's top-20 matchup with 19th-ranked Washington and never looked back in a 25-13, 25-19, 25-18 victory at Matthew Knight Arena. With the result, the Ducks extend their winning streak to six in a row, improve to 16-5 overall and remain in sole possession of second place in the Pac-12 with a 10-3 league mark.
Oregon hit .402 against the Huskies for the program's first home sweep in the series since 2011. Friday marked the Ducks' 12th outing of the year with a .300 or higher hitting percentage. Defensively, Oregon held Washington to a .152 efficiency; UW entered the match hitting a league-high .294 as a team.
Mimi Colyer led all players with 14 kills, and was joined in double figures by teammates Gloria Mutiri and Brooke Nuneviller with 11 and 10 kills, respectively. Nuneviller completed her 15th double-double with 11 digs. Kiari Robey continued her strong play at the net with nine kills on nine swings.
The Ducks picked up 43 digs over three sets, paced by libero Georgia Murphy with 15 in the match. At the service line, Daley McClellan tallied two aces.
How It Happened: With Nuneviller serving to start the match, Oregon jumped out to a 6-0 advantage to force an early timeout by Washington (16-7, 8-5). The Ducks never trailed in the opening frame, holding a lead of at least three throughout. The lead first hit double digits at 21-11 after the first of McClellan's aces, and UO went on to secure the 1-0 match lead on a service error by the Huskies.
Washington responded to start the second, taking an early 6-3 lead but the Ducks rallied to even things out at 8-all after consecutive kills from Robey and Mutiri. With the score tied 13-13, the home team put together a three-point surge to grab the second-set lead for good. Another Mutiri kill pushed the Ducks' advantage to 21-16.
She went on to team up with Karson Bacon for the set-winning block. Bacon finished the night with a match-high three total blocks.
Looking to close out the match in straight sets, Oregon won four of the first five points of the third and led 4-1 after a kill by Colyer. Washington pulled even at 8-all but a decisive 5-1 run put the Ducks ahead 13-9 and forced the visitors to call a timeout. Colyer put down another kill for a 20-13 lead, and on the team's second match point, Nuneviller flew in out of the backrow for the final kill with the help of a net violation by the Huskies.
Notable: With her fourth kill of the night, Nuneviller moved into ninth place on the program's all-time list and now has 1,359 career kills…Friday marked the Ducks' ninth sweep of the season, six of which have come during Pac-12 play…10th match of the year with three players tallying 10 or more kills; sixth time featuring Colyer, Mutiri and Nuneviller.
Up Next: The Ducks return to their home floor Sunday, Nov. 6, to host Washington State. First serve is set for 12 p.m. (PT). Click HERE for the Ducks' full schedule.
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