University of Oregon
3-2
UC Davis
3-3
Ducks Sweep UC Davis To Cap Dominant Oregon Classic
09/03/16 | Women's Volleyball
Ronika Stone Named Tournament MVP As Oregon Picks Up Third Straight Sweep
EUGENE, Ore. - Oregon volleyball completed an undefeated weekend in the Oregon Classic on Saturday night, beating UC Davis in straight sets, 25-22, 25-16, 25-10, for its third straight sweep in the tournament at Matthew Knight Arena.
How It Happened: The Ducks (3-2) used a balanced attack to down the Aggies (3-3), with eight players recording multiple kills. Freshman Brooke Van Sickle led the way with nine kills (.412) while adding five digs and two aces, and Lindsey Vander Weide dug 12 balls to go with seven kills and a game-high three aces. Willow Johnson (.444) and Lauren Page (.500) each added five kills, and Kacey Nady put down four balls on six swings. Sumeet Gill, Ronika Stone and Taylor Agost each had two kills, and Stone finished with a game-high four blocks. Amanda Benson led all players with 18 digs, and Maggie Scott and August Raskie combined for 28 assists as the Ducks swept UC Davis to complete a dominant Oregon Classic performance.
Stone was named the MVP of the Oregon Classic, finishing the weekend with a tournament-high 12 blocks (2.17 per set) while adding 11 kills on .435 hitting with just one error. Stone's standout performance came on Friday night, when she recorded seven blocks against San Diego State. Vander Weide and Benson joined Stone on the All-Tournament Team, with Vander Weide leading the tournament with five aces while digging 28 balls and putting down 18 kills. Benson led the tournament with 5.78 digs per set, digging 52 balls total as one of the clear keys to the Oregon defense. Benson and Vander Weide both played in all nine sets for the Ducks throughout the tournament.
Set 1: Both teams struggled a bit early on, playing to an 8-8 tie with each side committing a number of service and attack errors. UC Davis scored three straight to go up 11-8 on a kill and two Oregon errors, before the Ducks found a bit of a groove and went on a 6-2 run to go up 14-13, capped by an August Raskie ace. The Ducks then were plagued by errors once again as the Aggies took a 20-16 lead, forcing Oregon to use both of its timeouts. The Ducks got head coach Jim Moore's message, going on a 9-2 run to take the set, with a Kacey Nady kill followed by a block by Nady and Ronika Stone finishing things off for a 25-22 win. Nady had three kills on four swings in the set, Lauren Page had three kills and Ronika Stone blocked three balls.
Set 2: The Ducks took the second set, 25-16, behind a strong performance by Vander Weide. The preseason All-Pac-12 selection put down five kills on 10 swings and added a service ace. Vander Weide's ace capped an early 5-0 Oregon run that started with a kill from the 2015 first-team All-Pac-12 honoree. UC Davis would battle back to tie the game, 10-10, before a 15-6 Oregon run ended the set to send the Ducks to the intermission with a two-set lead. Van Sickle added three kills on three swings with three digs in the set, and Page and Willow Johnson each had a pair of kills.
Set 3: Oregon was in control of the final set from the get-go, racing out to a 5-0 lead that it wouldn't relinquish. Sumeet Gill opened the set with back-to-back kills, and Vander Weide ended the initial run with her second ace of the match, and added her third later on to put the Ducks up 19-7. The Ducks finished the set on a 12-4 run, scoring the final five points unanswered to win the set and the match. Johnson and Van Sickle each had three kills, and Benson dug eight balls.
What it Means: The Ducks' clean sweep of the Oregon Classic was a very encouraging sign for a team still finding its groove with so many young, talented pieces. Head Coach Jim Moore played 12 players against UC Davis, and that was without freshman standout Jolie Rasmussen, who sat out the weekend with an injury. The Ducks will continue to sort through their depth to try and find the most effective and consistent combinations, but it is clear that Oregon is not lacking for talent.
Quotes:
Head Coach Jim Moore
On the first set…
"I just said it's time to go. Everybody wants to say that they call a timeout and something magical happens, but there are a lot of times it doesn't work. They served like crazy in the beginning which is why they missed 14 serves and they caused us problems. They came out and said the only way to beat us is to serve as hard as they can serve and take us out of system and they did a really good job of that in the beginning. But as we adjusted, it got harder. We didn't adjust quick enough so they caused us problems in the beginning."
On the second set…
"After we got through the first set, we played pretty well. We were still able to rotate everybody around and play everybody, so that was good."
On being able to play everyone...
"We have to know who's best at where and we are getting a better idea of that."
On Vander Weide…
"Everybody wants to look at Lindsey as the big offensive weapon. Lindsey is a big offensive weapon, but she's unbelievable in serve receive and she's a really good volleyball player and that is what she does, that's her role."
All-Tournament Team: Emily Allen (UC Davis)
Amanda Benson (Oregon)
Alexis Cage (San Diego State)
Deja Harris (San Diego State)
Scottie Ingram (Murray State)
Ronika Stone (Oregon - MVP)
Lindsey Vander Weide (Oregon)
