Page, Vander Weide Lift Ducks Over Buffs In Four

Saturday, October 22

Boulder, Colo.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

14-5, 7-3Pac-12

Colorado

12-8, 4-6Pac-12

Oregon

Colorado

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

10/22/16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score #23 Oregon 3, Colorado 1

Lauren Page Sets Career-Highs With 12 Kills (.667) and 12 Blocks, Lindsey Vander Weide Two Blocks Short Of Triple-Double

By: Nate Krueger

BOULDER, Colo. – The 23rd-ranked Oregon volleyball team defeated Colorado in four sets, 25-14, 21-25, 25-22, 25-21, behind big individual performances from Lauren Page and Lindsey Vander Weide on Saturday night at the Coors Event Center.

How It Happened: Searching for its second road conference win in as many nights and trying to keep pace in a loaded Pac-12, Oregon (14-5, 7-3 Pac-12) jumped on Colorado (12-8, 4-6 Pac-12) in the first set before the Buffaloes rallied to win the second and send it to the intermission tied at 1-1. The Ducks outlasted the Buffaloes in the third set before scoring seven of the final eight points in the fourth to take the match and remain perfect on the road this season.

It was a career-night for Page, who recorded her first double-double while setting career-highs in both kills (12) and blocks (12), while tying her career-high with a .667 hitting percentage. Vander Weide also had an impressive night, recording her team-best ninth double-double with 12 kills and 15 digs while setting a career-high with eight blocks. The Ducks finished with a season-high 17 blocks to the Buffaloes' five. August Raskie also contributed a double-double, her fourth, with 21 assists and 14 digs, and Amanda Benson led all players with 22 digs. Jolie Rasmussen had 10 kills and Ronika Stone added five kills, two blocks and two aces. The Ducks outhit the Buffaloes, .247 to .153.

Set 1: Looking to carry over the momentum from their dramatic five-set win at No. 20 Utah on Friday night, the Ducks jumped on the Buffaloes with a 5-1 run to open the match. Colorado would get as close as four points at 11-7 before Oregon began to ran away with the opening set. The Buffaloes scored consecutive points just once the remainder of the set as the Ducks rolled to a 25-14 win, outhitting Colorado .483 to .118. Rasmussen led the way for the Ducks with five kills on eight swings without an error (.625), Vander Weide dug five balls and Page added two kills and two blocks as the Ducks outhit the Buffaloes, .483 to .118. Oregon recorded an 86-percent (13-15) sideout mark during the set.

Set 2: The second set was more evenly matched from the start, as the two teams played to an 11-11 tie before the Buffaloes ripped off four straight points to go up 15-11 and force Oregon into a timeout. Colorado went on another run out of the break, scoring four of seven to take a 19-14 lead and prompt Oregon into it's second timeout after an 8-3 stretch. The Ducks would get as close as 22-20 with a 6-2 run before the Buffaloes closed it out, 25-21, to tie the match at intermission. Vander Weide led the Ducks with four kills and five digs, Benson dug six balls and Page had three blocks.

Set 3: The Ducks started strong out of the intermission, earning leads of 11-5 and 17-8 and looking as though they would run away with the set. A 6-2 Colorado run forced Oregon into a timeout with its lead trimmed to 19-14, and the Buffaloes scored four of the next six out of the break to get within three, 21-18. The Ducks took their second timeout after Colorado cut the lead to two, 22-20, but scored three of the next five points to take the set and a 2-1 lead in the match. The third set was the big one for Page, who put down five kills on six swings and recorded five blocks while also adding three digs. The Ducks finished the set with eight total blocks, and Benson finished the set with an impressive 10 digs.

Set 4: Colorado started well in the fourth, getting out to a 12-8 lead on the Ducks. Oregon was able to play its way to an 18-18 tie and noticeably was gathering momentum for the final stretch. After two Colorado points put the Buffaloes up 20-18, the Ducks ripped off a 7-1 run to put the set and the match away. Kacey Nady provided a spark in the fourth set to lead the Ducks with five kills on seven swings, Page put down three kills with two blocks and Brooke Van Sickle added an ace off the bench. The Ducks hit .314 and had a sideout percentage of 76 (16-21) in the final game.

Page's Huge Night: The career-night for Page also moved things around in the Oregon record book. Her 12 block assists are tied for the third-most in UO single-match history, and her 12 total blocks are tied for 10th-most. The last time a Duck finished with double-digit blocks was Dec. 4, 2014, when Serena Warner had 13 and Martenne Bettendorf finished with 10 against Santa Clara.

What It Means: Trying to keep pace in a crowded Pac-12 race, the Ducks improved to 7-3 in conference play and are just a half game back of the first-place Washington Huskies, who play Arizona tomorrow morning. After an emotional win over Utah on Friday, the Ducks improved to a perfect 5-0 on the road with consecutive conference road victories. The Ducks entered the week at No. 25 in the NCAA RPI rankings, and should get a boost both there and in the AVCA poll after two road Pac-12 wins in as many nights.

One noticeable improvement for the Ducks on Saturday night was in the serving game, where they had three aces and only three errors after committing at least seven service errors in each of the last seven matches.

Up Next: Oregon will now return home for two matches at Matthew Knight Arena, where it has played 14 of its 19 matches this season. The Ducks will host Arizona on Friday, Oct. 28, at 7 p.m. and Arizona State on Sunday, Oct. 30, at 11 a.m. Friday's match against the Wildcats will be streamed live on Twitter through Pac-12 Plus.