Ducks Beat Arizona In Four To Win 11th Straight

Saturday, October 1

Tucson, Ariz.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

11-2, 4-0Pac-12

Arizona

10-6, 2-2Pac-12

Oregon

Arizona

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

10/01/16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score No. 21 Oregon 3, Arizona 1

Ronika Stone and Taylor Agost Lead Oregon Attack As Ducks Improve To 4-0 In Pac-12

By: Nate Krueger

TUSCON, Ariz. – The 21st-ranked Oregon volleyball team extended its winning streak to 11 matches and improved to 4-0 in Pac-12 play with a 25-19, 21-25, 25-17, 26-24 win over Arizona on Saturday night at McKale Memorial Center.

How It Happened: Oregon (11-2, 4-0 Pac-12) got off to a strong start with a commanding win in the opening set before Arizona (10-6, 2-2 Pac-12) responded with an impressive second game to tie things up. The Ducks found their groove in the third to take a 2-1 lead, and outlasted the Wildcats in the fourth set to preserve their 11th straight win and remain undefeated in conference play.

Freshman Ronika Stone led the Ducks with a terrific performance, putting down a season-high 13 kills on .632 hitting and also adding an ace and a match-high five blocks. Junior Taylor Agost was right behind with 12 kills while hitting .458. The Ducks also got a pair of double-doubles, as August Raskie picked up her second with 23 assists and 11 digs and Lindsey Vander Weide recorded her team-best sixth double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. Freshman Jolie Rasmussen added nine kills while hitting .320, and Amanda Benson led the Ducks with 18 digs. The Ducks out hit the Wildcats .272 to .199, and had 11 team blocks to Arizona's three.

Set 1: The Ducks got out to a fast start, opening up a 12-4 lead early on. Arizona responded with a 4-0 run, but Oregon got back on track to open up a 17-11 lead. The Ducks then answered three straight Wildcat points with 6-2 run to get to 23-16, and kills by Stone and Agost finished off the opening game win. Agost led the Ducks with six kills on 10 swings, Johnson recorded kills on all four of her swings and Rasmussen put down three balls.

Set 2: After an early 6-6 tie, the Wildcats began to gain some momentum and opened up a 15-9 lead aided by a 4-0 run. The Wildcats would then open up a 22-14 lead, and the Ducks responded with a 5-2 run to get within 24-19 and force an Arizona timeout. Agost and Stone would put down kills to get the Ducks within three and force another Wildcat timeout, but Arizona's Kalei Mau finished off the set with a kill. Stone led the Ducks with kills on all four of her swings while Agost added three, and Raskie led the way with five digs.

Set 3: The Ducks came out of the intermission hot, going on an 8-1 run to take an 11-4 lead after an initial 3-3 tie. The Wildcats got within 12-7 before the Ducks took off again, scoring six of eight points to double up Arizona at 18-9. The Wildcats scored three straight later on to pull within 19-13, but the Ducks finished the set with a 6-4 run to take a 2-1 lead in the match with Stone ending it with her 10th kill. Stone was once again the Oregon leader with four kills, while Benson dug everything that came her way to finish the set with 11 digs.

Set 4: Oregon got off to another strong start in the fourth set, racing out to an 11-5 lead and forcing Arizona to burn both of its timeouts early on. The Wildcats responded with a furious rally, however, going on a 6-0 run to tie the set, 11-11. The two teams then went back and forth, playing to a 22-22 tie with the Ducks taking a late timeout. Four points later at 24-24, kills by Vander Weide and Stone gave Oregon a 26-24 set win and a 3-1 victory in the match. Vander Weide came on strong in the final set with an ace and four kills to finish with a double-double, while Stone added three kills and an ace.

What It Means: After playing 10 of their first 11 matches at home, the Ducks went on the road and picked up conference road wins on back-to-back nights. The freshmen continue to shine early on, with Stone becoming a center piece in the Ducks' game-plan and Rasmussen and Johnson both adding solid contributions on offense. Behind veterans like Benson, Agost and Vander Weide, the Ducks are starting to make some legitimate noise in a loaded Pac-12 conference.

The Streak: With Oregon's winning streak now at 11 matches, the Ducks are just three wins shy of the program record of 14 consecutive wins (2010, '12). During the streak, the Ducks are hitting .337 as a team while holding opponents to a .141 mark, and are averaging 2.46 blocks per set compared to 1.22 by its opponents. Vander Weide is leading the way with 3.16 kills per set while hitting .322, while Stone and Agost are both hitting better than .440. Benson, who entered the weekend as the Pac-12's leader in digs per set, has continued to be a defensive juggernaut averaging 5.32 digs per set during the run.

Up Next: The Ducks and their 11-match winning streak return home for another lengthy home stand, as they'll host four straight matches at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon will open against No. 7 Washington next Friday at 8 p.m. on ESPNU.