Ducks Rally To Beat No. 20 Utah in Five On the Road

Friday, October 21

Salt Lake City, Utah

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

13-5, 6-3

Utah

14-6, 5-4

Oregon

Utah

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Ducks Rally To Beat No. 20 Utah in Five On the Road

10/21/16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score #23 Oregon 3, #20 Utah 2

Oregon Came Back From a 2-1 Deficit Behind Double-Doubles From Lindsey Vander Weide and Jolie Rasmussen

By: Nate Krueger

SALT LAKE CITY – No. 23 Oregon volleyball rallied back from a 2-1 deficit to beat No. 20 Utah, 25-27, 27-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-11, in five back and forth sets on Friday night at the Jon M. Huntsman Center.

How It Happened: After dropping the first set in dramatic fashion, the Ducks (13-5, 6-3 Pac-12) were able to outlast the Utes (14-6, 5-4 Pac-12) in the second set, 27-25, to pull even in the match at intermission. Utah capitalized on some Oregon errors late in the third set to take a 2-1 lead, but the Ducks responded with a strong showing in the fourth to pull even. An impressive finish in the fifth set, particularly on the block, fueled the Ducks to a 3-2 comeback win in an important conference match. The Ducks improved to a perfect 4-0 on the road this season.

The Ducks were led by a pair of double-doubles, with Lindsey Vander Weide picking up her eighth of the season with a match-high 20 kills on .500 hitting to go with 17 digs and Jolie Rasmussen earning the first of her career with 14 kills and 12 digs. Ronika Stone was also very impressive for the Ducks, hitting .360 with 15 kills while adding five digs and five blocks. Taylor Agost added eight kills while Willow Johnson had seven, and Amanda Benson led all players with 24 digs. Vander Weide, Agost and Lauren Page also each added five blocks. August Raskie (33) and Maggie Scott (31) paced the Ducks to 68 total assists while Oregon hit .272 and finished with 12 total blocks to the Utes' five.

Set 1: Utah opened up an early 10-6 lead on its home floor but Oregon quickly responded with a strong stretch to tie the set, 18-18, forcing the Utes to call a timeout after a 6-2 run. The two teams would go back and forth to a 22-22 tie before the Ducks scored two of the next three to get set point, 24-23, but a service error followed by a Utes' ace quickly swung Utah into set point, 25-24. Kacey Nady would put down a kill to pull the Ducks back even, but a Utah kill and an Oregon ball-handling error cost the Ducks the first set, 27-25. Vander Weide led the Ducks with five kills on seven swings (.525) with six digs, and Scott paced the offense with nine assists. Despite the loss, the Ducks hit .364 in the opening set.

Set 2: The battle continued into the second set, as the two teams went back and forth to play to an 11-11 tie midway through. Three straight Duck points erased a 14-13 Utah lead, but the Utes quickly responded to knot it back up at 17-17. A 7-4 Oregon run gave the Ducks set point, 24-21, but the Utes were able to fend off three straight set points to draw even, 24-24. After Utah erased another Oregon set point, a kill by Vander Weide and a successful challenge at the net by Lauren Page sent the Ducks into intermission tied, 1-1, with a 27-25 win. Rasmussen led the Ducks with five kills while Vander Weide added four and Benson dug seven bals.

Set 3: Late errors proved costly for the Ducks once again in the third set. After being tied 14-14, the Utes were able to get out to a 21-17 lead to put pressure on the Ducks. Oregon responded with three unanswered points to pull within one and force a Utah timeout, but a service error followed by an attack into the net extended the Utes' lead to 23-20 and killed any momentum Oregon was gaining. Utah would win two of the next four rallies to win the set, 25-22, and take a 2-1 lead. Stone was impressive offensively in the third, putting down six kills on seven swings and adding a block.

Set 4: Trailing 12-10 midway through the set, the Ducks ripped off an 8-2 run to take an 18-14 lead and force Utah into a timeout. Out of the break, the Ducks would score two more before Utah answered with three straight to pull within 20-17. After an Oregon timeout, the Ducks were able to finish with a 5-3 stretch to win the set, 25-20, and take the Utes to a fifth set tied, 2-2. Five kills from Vander Weide and four from Rasmussen paced the Oregon offense, with Stone adding two more blocks and Benson digging six balls.

Set 5: After Utah scored the first two points to open up the final set, Oregon responded with five points in the next six rallies to go up 5-3 and force the Utes into a timeout. Oregon would extend its lead to 10-6 before the Utes battled back with four points in five rallies to pull within one, 11-10. After an Oregon timeout, the Ducks came out and rattled off a 4-1 run to win the set and the match with Agost and Johnson going up for the final block to seal the victory. The biggest success for the Ducks in the final set came on the block, where they totaled five as a team in the shortened game with Agost assisting on four.

What It Means: Entering the week in a seven-way tied for second place in the Pac-12 at 5-3, the win for the Ducks could go a long way down the road. The victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Oregon, and gives it good momentum with another conference match on the schedule for tomorrow. The continued success on the road is also encouraging, as the Ducks are now 4-0 away from home after playing 14 of their first 17 matches at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks won for just the second time this season when trailing in kills (71-73), but improved to 13-0 when leading in attack percentage (.272-.200) and are now 12-2 when leading in blocks. Oregon improved to 2-1 in five-set matches and 3-4 against AVCA top-25 teams this season, and is now 12-6 all-time against the Utes.

Up Next: The Ducks will have a quick turnaround before hitting the court again, as they'll head to Boulder, Colo. Tonight to take on the Colorado Buffaloes (12-7, 4-5 Pac-12) tomorrow night at 6 p.m. at the Coors Event Center. Colorado defeated Oregon State in four sets on Friday.