Notes: Four-Match Road Trip Begins in Bay Area

Friday, November 3

Berkeley, CA

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

California

10/31/17 | Women's Volleyball

Notes: Cal, #2 Stanford Buy Volleyball Tickets

The No. 16 Ducks head to the Bay Area this weekend to kick off a stretch of four straight road contests with matches at California (Fri., 7 p.m.) and No. 2 Stanford (Sun., 1 p.m., Pac-12 Network)

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. - Sitting at 7-5 in Pac-12 play and with eight regular-season matches remaining, the No. 16 Ducks head to the Bay Area this weekend to kick off a stretch of four straight road contests with matches against California and No. 2 Stanford.

Finally healthy and in its preferred lineup, Oregon (14-6, 7-5) is hoping to enter the postseason on a sustained upward trajectory and will look to get back to its winning ways on Friday at California (7 p.m.) before facing first-place Stanford on Sunday (1 p.m., Pac-12 Network).

HOW TO FOLLOW
The Ducks' match against California on Friday will be available to watch on the Pac-12 live stream, while Sunday's match at No. 2 Stanford will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network with Anne Marie Anderson and Holly McPeak on the call. Oregon's student radio, KWVA, will be in attendance for both Bay Area matches, and both can be listened to on 88.1 FM or at kwva.uoregon.edu with Matt Tyra providing play-by-play. Live stats for both matches can be found at Oregon.Statbroadcast.com, and updates will be provided during both matches on Twitter via @OregonVB.

OREGON AMONG NATION'S TOP TEAMS
The No. 16 Ducks have been a constant in the AVCA top 25 this season, slotting inside the top 20 in every poll this season and peaking at No. 8 in week four. Oregon has also consistently been one of the nation's top teams in the NCAA RPI rankings, perhaps the most important rankings in terms of NCAA Tournament seeding, slotting in at No. 10 the past two weeks. Sunday's match will be a battle of two teams in the NCAA RPI top 10, with Stanford coming in at No. 7.

DUCKS LOOKING FOR IMPROVED ROAD PLAY
While Oregon has done a good job of protecting its home court with an 11-2 record inside Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks are just 2-3 on the road this season. Hitting just .220 in road matches this year, the Ducks are hoping to rediscover the magic that helped them go 9-3 on the road last season.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA (13-10, 4-8 Pac-12)
The Golden Bears welcome Oregon to Haas Pavilion on Friday looking to break a seven-match losing streak to the Ducks. Oregon swept the Golden Bears in Eugene earlier this season, holding Cal to a .041 hitting percentage. Cal has started 4-8 in Pac-12 play, picking up two wins over ASU and one against both Arizona and Washington State. The Golden Bears are eighth in the Pac-12 in hitting (.235) and 11th in opponent hitting percentage (.221), and Antzela Dempi leads the conference with 39 aces. Cal leads the all-time series with the Ducks, 54-24.

ABOUT NO. 2 STANFORD (19-2, 12-0 Pac-12)
No. 2 Stanford remains the lone unbeaten team in Pac-12 play this year at 12-0, with seven of those coming by way of sweep. The defending national champions lead the conference in both hitting (.306) and opponent hitting (.172), and reigning national freshman of the year Kathryn Plummer leads the Pac-12 with 4.66 kills per set and 5.38 points per set. Oregon is looking to snap an 11-match losing streak in the series. The Cardinal swept the Ducks in Eugene on Oct. 6 in front of the second-largest home crowd in UO volleyball history (5,872), and own a 63-4 lead in the all-time series with Oregon.

LAST TIME OUT: DUCKS SPLIT WITH UTAH, COLORADO
Looking to sweep the season series with then-No. 12 Utah, the Ducks played one of their more complete matches of the season last Wednesday in a four-match victory over the Utes, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, 25-22. Oregon hit .287 as a team while holding Utah to a .241 clip, and SO OH Jolie Rasmussen led three players in double figures with 15 kills on .375 hitting to go with 12 digs for her first double-double of the year. SO MB Ronika Stone had 11 kills (.450) and seven blocks, SR RS Taylor Agost had 10 kills and SR S Maggie Scott racked up 26 assists and 12 digs for a double-double.

Oregon was unable to carry that momentum into Friday's match with Colorado, falling behind 2-0 before falling just short of an epic comeback in a 25-17, 25-19, 17-25, 9-25, 15-10 loss. Colorado hit better than .400 in the first two sets to jump out to a lead, and despite Oregon's dominance after intermission, was able to hold on for the win. Rasmussen led Oregon again with 14 kills, Stone hit .455 with 13 kills and JR OH Lindsey Vander Weide broke out of an offensive slump a bit to hit .308 and match SO RS Willow Johnson with 12 kills. Scott notched her fifth double-double of the year and second in as many matches with 32 assists and 11 digs, and Vander Weide earned her team-best seventh double-double by adding 11 digs.

RASMUSSEN'S RETURN STABILIZES LINEUP
The Ducks have been forced to shuffle their lineup and rotation around quite a bit this season due to injuries, but the return of SO OH Jolie Rasmussen has allowed Matt Ulmer to return to the lineup he wanted to use entering the season. Rasmussen has been big for UO in four matches since returning from a concussion, hitting .270 with a team-best 2.88 kills per set and 2.06 digs per set.

DUCKS AMONG PAC-12 AND NATION'S BEST
The No. 16 Ducks have been among the best in both the Pac-12 and the nation this season, as apparent by their standing in multiple statistical rankings. Oregon is second in the Pac-12 and 20th in the nation with a .270 team hitting percentage, and fifth in the conference with 13.70 kills per set. The Ducks are also third in the Pac-12 with 1.32 service aces per set. Defensively, Oregon is fourth in the conference and 33rd nationally with 2.59 blocks per set, and fourth in the Pac-12 in opponent hitting percentage (.190).

EFFICIENT STONE ONE OF TOP HITTERS IN PAC-12
SO MB Ronika Stone has been among one of the most efficient hitters in the Pac-12 this season, raning second in the conference with a .363 hitting percentage. Stone is also ninth in the conference with 1.17 blocks per set, and 10th with 0.30 aces per set (23 total ). SR S Maggie Scott is 10th in the conference with 6.13 assists per set while splitting time in Oregon's 6-2 offense.

DUCKS A TOP-25 STAPLE
After slotting in at No. 16 in the latest AVCA coaches poll, the Ducks have been inside the top 25 in 24 striaght polls, dating back to Sept. 12, 2016. UO has been inside the top 16 in each of the last 10 polls, and inside the top 18 in all 11 polls so far this season. Oregon peaked at No. 8 on Sept. 18, the program's first top-10 ranking since November 2014 and highest since being No. 8 in the 2013 preseason poll.

EFFICIENCY KEY FOR OREGON
There has been one constant in all of the Ducks' victories so far in 2017: an advatage in team hitting percentage. Oregon is 14-2 this season when leading in hitting percentage, but 0-4 when its opponent finishes with a more efficient night on the attack. The Ducks are 7-0 when hitting .300 or better this year, and 12-0 when holding their opponent under the .200 mark compared to 2-6 when their opponent hits better than .200. Oregon is also 11-3 when winning on the block this year, 10-2 when leading in kills and 10-0 when winning the first two sets.

UP NEXT
Following this weekend's trip to the Bay Area, the Ducks will remain on the road to face Arizona State in Tempe on Nov. 9 and Arizona in Tucson on Nov. 12.