Ducks Down ASU in Four to Keep Pace in Pac-12

Sunday, October 30

Eugene, Ore.

11:00 AM

University of Oregon

15-6, 8-4Pac-12

Arizona State

9-15, 2-10Pac-12

Arizona State

Oregon

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

10/30/16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score #20 Oregon 3, ASU 1

Oregon Remains One Match Back of Pac-12 Lead: Beats Sun Devils Behind 19 Kills from Lindsey Vander Weide

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. – The 20th-ranked Oregon volleyball team kept pace in a crowded Pac-12 race on Sunday with a four-set win over Arizona State, 25-21, 25-18, 27-29, 25-20, in front of 1,420 at Matthew Knight Arena.

How It Happened: Looking to rebound after a disappointing five-set loss to Arizona on Friday, Oregon (15-6, 8-4 Pac-12) came out and fought off the Sun Devils (9-15, 2-10 Pac-12) in the first two sets to take a 2-0 lead at intermission. Arizona State was able to outlast the Ducks in the third set after Oregon fought off four Sun Devil set points, sending the match to a fourth set. In the fourth, the Ducks pulled away at the end with a 6-1 stretch to win the match and hold their position one match back of the Pac-12 lead.

Lindsey Vander Weide led the Ducks with an impressive offensive performance, putting down 19 kills on .471 hitting while also digging seven balls. Freshman Jolie Rasmussen added 12 kills while hitting .294 and tied her season-high with three aces, and fellow freshmen Willow Johnson (10 kills, .500) and Ronika Stone (Seven kills, .312, three blocks) contributed throughout the match. Maggie Scott recorded her fourth double-double of the season with 30 assists and 12 digs, and Amanda Benson led all players with 22 digs. The Ducks finished the match with a season-high nine aces while hitting .317 as a team, and held the Sun Devils to a mark of .222.

Set 1: Arizona State hung with the Ducks in the first set, taking an initial 12-8 lead capped by three straight points. Oregon responded to pull even, 17-17, and then used a 4-0 run to go up 20-17. The Sun Devils got within 22-20 before the Ducks closed out the first set, 25-21, with three points in the last four rallies. Vander Weide led Oregon in the opening game with five kills on eight swings while Rasmussen added four kills and an ace. Benson led all players with nine digs and Kacey Nady had two blocks.

Set 2: The Sun Devils started the second set strong with a 6-3 lead, but the Ducks quickly responded 9-2 run to take a 12-8 lead and force an ASU timeout. Arizona State got a point out of the break, but Oregon found its groove again with a 7-1 run to extend its lead to 19-10. The Sun Devils would get as close as six points on two different occasions, but that's all the Ducks would allow as they took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-18 set win. The Ducks hit .455 in the set behind four kills from Vander Weide, while Rasmussen added three. Oregon recorded an astounding five service aces in the set, with Scott, Page and Alex Hojnar each putting down one and Rasmussen recording two.

Set 3: Out of intermission, the two teams traded points to start the third set en route to an early 7-7 tie. ASU was able to separate just a bit, taking a 15-13 lead at the media timeout. After the Sun Devils extended their lead to 18-14, Oregon was able to climb back within one, 19-18, and force an ASU timeout after a solo block by Nady. The Sun Devils would take a 23-21 lead before the Ducks were able to claw back to a 24-24 tie after an ASU service error on set point. Oregon fought off four ASU set points before eventually falling, 29-27. Vander Weide paced the Ducks in kills for the third straight set with seven on 12 swings, while Agost added five to help the Ducks hit .278. ASU hit .333 to take its first set.

Set 4: Looking to avoid a fifth set, the Ducks came out in the fourth and jumped out to an early 6-3 lead to force an early timeout. ASU responded, though, and brought the set to a 10-10 tie and killed the Oregon momentum. The two teams played to a 15-15 tie before the Ducks scored four straight to go up 19-15. ASU got back within one at 20-19, but the Ducks ended the match on a 6-1 run to put the Sun Devils away, 25-20.

What It Means: After dropping a match to Arizona on Friday, the Ducks got back on track and enter a crucial week at 8-4 in Pac-12 play. The Ducks, tied with Stanford one match back of Washington and UCLA, head to Seattle on Friday to play the Huskies with position in the conference race on the line. Oregon remains in strong position nationally, entering the weekend at No. 13 in the NCAA RPI rankings.

Quotes:
Lindsey Vander Weide, Sophomore, Outside hitter
On the win…
"We definitely needed that; we lost our last three at home. Everybody wants to win in front of their home crowd. Everyone's been losing at home and everyone is winning on the road so we knew we needed to get this match today after Friday's. We had to win one at home."

On playing the Huskies on Friday…
"There shouldn't be any difference between home and away games, that's what I try to have my mindset as. Obviously they have a big crowd, their team is good and it's different traveling, but I think we're ready to come after them."

On losing the third set…
"I think we just relaxed a little bit and that's something we need to work on, not relaxing, knowing that we don't just have it and attacking all the way through."

Jim Moore, Head Coach
On losing the third set…
"Again, it was defense. They hit .333 and we can't let them do that. All of the sudden we just stopped blocking. I thought we were going to come out really focused but we didn't."

On the rest of the season…
"Everybody's got eight matches to go. The team that wins the most
matches out of the stretch is going to get it. I hope it's us, it's
either we win all of them or all of them."

Up Next:
The Ducks will take on first-place Washington at 7 p.m. on Friday in Seattle before playing Washington State in Pullman on Sunday at 11 a.m. Both matches will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.