Win Streak Hits 10 As Ducks Outlast ASU in Five

Friday, September 30

Tempe, Ariz.

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

10-2, 3-0Pac-12

Arizona State

7-8, 0-3Pac-12

Oregon

Arizona State

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

09/30/16 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score No. 21 Oregon 3, ASU 2

Dominating Performances In Fourth And Fifth Sets Propels Oregon to First Pac-12 Road Win

By: Nate Krueger

TEMPE, Ariz. – No. 21 Oregon volleyball survived its first Pac-12 road match of the season, beating Arizona State, 25-21, 17-25, 24-26, 25-9, 15-7, to extend its winning streak to 10 matches on Friday night at Wells Fargo Arena.

How It Happened: Trailing 2-1 after three sets, Oregon (10-2, 3-0 Pac-12) used a dominating 25-9 win in the fourth set to turn the momentum back in its direction heading into its first fifth set of the year. The Ducks continued their late surge into the deciding set, jumping out to an early lead that they wouldn't relinquish en route to a 3-2 road win over the Sun Devils (7-8, 0-3 Pac-12).

Lindsey Vander Weide led the way with 17 kills and nine digs, while Taylor Agost also shined with 14 digs while hitting .429. Freshman and Arizona native Willow Johnson added eight kills and Ronika Stone put down six kills to go with five blocks, and Kacey Nady came on strong late in the match to finish with six kills on 10 swings (.600). The Ducks out hit the Sun Devils .280 to .161 while forcing ASU into 30 attack errors. Maggie Scott (29) and August Raskie (21) paced the Ducks in assists as they out-dished ASU 57-50, and Stone led Oregon to 12 total blocks to the Sun Devils' seven.

Set 1: After the Ducks opened up an early 7-3 lead, Arizona State battled back to pull the set even, 8-8. The two teams played back-and-forth volleyball to a 13-13 tie before back-to-back ASU points forced a TV timeout with the Ducks trailing by two. Oregon regrouped after the break, going on a 6-1 run to force an ASU timeout leading 19-16. The Sun Devils got two points out of the timeout, but Oregon finished on a 6-3 run to take the set. Agost led the Ducks in the opening set with five kills on seven swings, while Vander Weide added four kills and four digs and Johnson put down three kills on four swings. The Ducks hit .433 in the opening set.

Set 2: ASU got off to a strong start in the second set, opening up a 10-5 lead to force an Oregon timeout. The Sun Devils continued to control the set, pushing their lead to 18-13. Oregon found its groove a bit, pulling within three at 20-17, but ASU ended the set on a 5-0 run to pull the match even at the intermission and end Oregon's set winning streak at 19 in a row. Vander Weide led the Ducks with three sets, but it was a struggle overall on the offensive end as Oregon hit -.054 as a team.

Set 3: The close play between the two teams continued out of the intermission, as the back-and-forth play led to a 17-17 tie in the third set. Two straight points by ASU forced an Oregon timeout, but the Ducks responded with three straight points to go up 20-19. ASU came back with two points to take a one-point lead, but Oregon used three Sun Devil errors to take a 23-21 lead and force an ASU timeout. The Sun Devils then fended off two Oregon set points to pull even, 24-24, and forced Jim Moore to take a timeout, but two straight errors by the Ducks gave ASU a 26-24 win and a 2-1 lead in the match. Vander Weide and Agost paced the Ducks with five and four kills, respectively, and August Raskie had a service ace. ASU hit .378 as a team en route to taking a one-set lead.

Set 4: After an early 4-1 ASU lead, Oregon dominated the remainder of the set to pull the match even, 2-2. The Ducks used runs of 5-0, 8-0 and 7-0 to run away with a 25-9 win. The Ducks' stellar performance was aided by a strong set by Nady, who put down three kills on five swings. Agost, Vander Weide and Johnson each had two, and Stone had a pair of blocks including one solo denial. The Ducks hit .409 as a team while holding ASU to a mark of -.167.

Set 5: The Ducks carried their fourth set momentum into the deciding game, and never relinquished it. The Ducks raced out to a 5-1 lead, and answered three ASU points with a 4-0 lead to go up 10-4. The Sun Devils got within 12-7, but a Nady kill and two ASU errors sealed the set and the match for the Ducks. Vander Weide finished the match with a great final set, recording three kills to go with a block and an ace. Agost added two to cap her quality night, and freshman Brooke Van Sickle put two down on four swings to finish the night with three. Oregon ended the match with its most efficient set of the night, hitting .588 without an attack error.

What It Means: Oregon's set win streak ended at 19, but that is a minor detail for a team that has now won 10 consecutive matches. The Sun Devils gave the Ducks all they could handle in their first conference road match, but Oregon showed terrific resolve to win the final two sets in such dominating fashion. The five-set victory could prove to be an important stepping-stone for a team that has won so many three-set matches at home lately. Oregon's 10-match winning streak is just four wins shy of the program record of 14 (2010, '12).

Vander Weide Keeps It Going: After dominating California last Thursday with 25 kills and 15 digs, Vander Weide carried her stellar play onto the road with 17 kills (.395) and nine digs. The sophomore from Turlock, Calif. now has 42 kills and just five attack errors on 80 swings in the last two matches, good for a .463 hitting percentage and 5.25 kills per set. Vander Weide leads the Ducks this season with 3.29 kills per set while hitting .326.

Up Next: The Ducks will look to continue their winning ways as they turn around and head to Tuscon to take on Arizona on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT.