Road Swing Concludes This Week in Arizona

EUGENE, Ore. - The 16th-ranked Oregon volleyball team will travel to the Arizona schools this week to conclude a stretch a four straight road matches with the Ducks' last true road trip of the regular season.

At 15-7 overall and 8-6 in Pac-12 play, the Ducks are looking for a strong finish over the final six matches of the regular season as they try and secure a host bid in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament. Oregon will open the week against Arizona State (10-16, 0-14) in Tempe on Thursday at 5 p.m. PT on Pac-12 Networks, and will wrap the road trip on Sunday in Tucson at 11 a.m. against Arizona (9-14, 3-11).

"This is a hard trip," head coach Matt Ulmer said. "Arizona is a very tough place to play and Arizona State is too, I think we're always in five at their place. For us, we need to play better and we need to start doing the things that we need to do to be successful, and this trip is a great opportunity to do that."

HOW TO FOLLOW
Thursday's match at Arizona State will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Network, with Thad Anderson and Holly McPeak on the call. Sunday's match at Arizona will not be televised, but will be available to be streamed live at pac-12.com/live/university-arizona. 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. 9 this week after being NO. 10 the past two weeks. On Nov. 1, the NCAA selection committee tabbed UO at No. 9 in their early top 10 ranking.

DUCKS LOOKING FOR IMPROVED ROAD PLAY
While Oregon has done a good job of protecting its home court this year with an 11-2 record inside Matthew Knight Arena, the Ducks are just 3-4 on the road this season. Hitting just .233 in road matches this year, the Ducks are hoping to rediscover the magic that helped them go 9-3 on the road last season.

DUCKS SPLIT IN BAY AREA
The Ducks came away with a split last weekend in the Bay Area, sweeping California on Friday in Berkeley before being swept by No. 2 Stanford on Sunday. The Ducks dominated the Golden Bears in a 25-18, 25-16, 25-19 sweep, hitting .367 as a team and leading for all but one point in the third set. SO MB Ronika Stone led the Ducks with 10 kills on .667 hitting and five blocks, and SO OH Jolie Rasmussen added eight kills (.389) and eight digs. SR L Alex Hojnar and JR S August Raskie each had two aces, and JR MB Sumeet Gill came on late to put down four kills on four swings. The Ducks didn't fare as well on Sunday at No. 2 Stanford in a 25-14, 25-18, 25-14 loss, as the Cardinal hit a blistering .519 to win their 16th straight match and remain undefeated in conference play.

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE (10-16, 0-14 Pac-12)
The Sun Devils will welcome the Ducks to Wells Fargo Arena on Thursday still looking for their first Pac-12 win this season. ASU has put up a number of good fights this year, including taking then-No. 7 Washington to five sets. The Sun Devils are strong in their floor defense, as they are second in the Pac-12 with 16.28 digs per set behind Halle Harker's conference-best 5.34 digs per set. UO swept ASU last month in Eugene, 25-20, 25-21, 25-14, and has won five straight in the series.

ABOUT ARIZONA (9-14, 3-11 Pac-12)
Arizona enters this week having lost seven of its last eight Pac-12 matches, picking up a sweep over Cal on Oct. 27. The Wildcats swept then-No. 15 USC at home on Oct. 6, their most prominent win this season. Arizona is 11th in the Pac-12 in hitting percentage (.211) and 10th in opponent hitting percentage (.215), and is led by Kendra Dahlke's 3.19 kills per set, 10th-best in the conference. The Ducks pulled out a hard-fought five-set win over Arizona last month in Eugene, fighting back from a 2-1 deficit to win, 25-22, 23-25, 18-25, 25-9, 15-10.

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 .276 with a team-best 2.65 kills per set and 2.00 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 .271 team hitting percentage, and third in the conference with 1.30 service aces per set. Defensively, Oregon is fourth in the conference and 34th nationally with 2.55 blocks per set.

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, as she currently ranks third in the conference with a .372 hitting percentage. Stone is also ninth in the conference with 1.16 blocks per set. SR S Maggie Scott is 10th in the conference with 6.06 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 25 striaght polls, dating back to Sept. 12, 2016. UO has been inside the top 16 in each of the last 11 polls, and inside the top 18 in all 12 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. The Ducks have been either No. 15 or No. 16 for each of the past six weeks.

EFFICIENCY KEY FOR OREGON
There has been one constant in all of the Ducks' victories so far in 2017: an advantage in team hitting percentage. Oregon is 15-2 this season when leading in hitting percentage, but 0-5 when its opponent finishes with a more efficient night on the attack. The Ducks are 8-0 when hitting .300 or better this year, and 13-0 when holding their opponent under the .200 mark compared to 2-7 when their opponent hits better than .200. Oregon is also 12-3 when winning on the block this year, 11-2 when leading in kills and 11-0 when winning the first two sets.

UP NEXT
Following this weekend's trip to Arizona, the Ducks will return to Eugene to play three of their final four matches at home, beginning Nov. 17 against Washington State.