University of Oregon
16-9, 9-8Pac-12
Washington State
16-13, 5-12Pac-12
Slow Start Dooms Ducks Against WSU
11/17/17 | Women's Volleyball
The No. 20 Ducks were unable to rally back from a two-set deficit in a four-set loss to Washington State, 25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 29-27
EUGENE, Ore. - The 20th-ranked Oregon volleyball was unable to rally back from a two-set deficit on Wednesday afternoon in a four-set loss to Washington State, 25-19, 25-22, 20-25, 29-27, in front of 1,234 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
How it Happened: Washington State (16-13, 5-12 Pac-12) started the match well, jumping out to a 12-5 lead while forcing Oregon to burn both of its timeouts. The Ducks (16-9, 9-8 Pac-12) rallied back to within two, 14-12, but that was as close as they'd get as the Cougars used a 4-1 run to regain separation before scoring the final three points of the frame to take a 1-0 lead.
The second set was tied, 11-11, when WSU took control with a 10-2 run. Oregon responded with a 6-1 run to get within three, 21-18, and then scored three out of four to make it a two-point game, 24-22, but a service error ended the set and sent the Cougars into intermission with a 2-0 lead.
The Ducks rebounded out of the break to win the third set, 25-20, behind a huge frame from Taylor Agost. The senior put down 10 kills in the set on 14 swings without an error (.714) as Oregon was in control pretty much from start to finish. UO jumped out to a 6-3 lead before using a 7-2 run in the middle of the set to gain separation, and the Ducks finished the frame hitting .359 as a team.
Oregon was up 14-13 in the fourth set when the Cougars ripped off six straight points to take the lead, but the Ducks rallied back from down 22-18 to pull even, 23-23. The Ducks then fought off match-point, 24-23, and were able to earn set-point twice as they tried to force a fifth set, but WSU stayed alive and then scored three straight to win, 29-27, and take the match.
Who Stood Out: Agost finished with a career-high 25 kills on .358 hitting, Ronika Stone also notched a new career-high for kills with 18 while hitting .586, and Jolie Rasmussen put down 13 kills. Agost added 10 digs for her fourth double-double, Rasmussen earned her third with 11 digs, and Maggie Scott dished out a season-high 47 assists with 10 digs for her sixth double-double. Alex Hojnar paced the Ducks with 15 digs. WSU's Taylor Mims led all players with 26 kills while taking 72 swings, 55 more than any other Cougar in the match.
What it Means: Wednesday's loss puts Oregon on the outside looking in in terms of hosting in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, but the Ducks will look to rebound and finish strong over the final three matches of the regular season as they try to build momentum entering the postseason.
Quotable: Matt Ulmer, Head Coach
On the loss…
"Any time a team comes into your home and outworks you, it's never a good thing, and I thought Washington State did that for most of the match. Definitely for the first two sets, they were more comfortable than we were and that's an issue to me. I thought we battled back and we did a lot of good things in the third and the fourth sets. Then I don't know why we get fearful in crunch time when the pressure is on, so we just give away free points at the end.
Notable: Washington State out-hit the Ducks, .329 to .269 … The Cougars snap a 22-match losing streak to the Ducks … Rasmussen matched her career-high with three aces … Oregon falls to 11-3 at home this season.
Up Next: The Ducks will host No. 10 Washington in MKA on Sunday at 1 p.m. (Pac-12 Network).
