University of Oregon
3-1
Loyola Marymount
2-3
Ducks Fight Back to Beat LMU in Five
09/01/17 | Women's Volleyball
The No. 14 Ducks battled back after losing two of the first three sets on Friday night to beat Loyola Marymount in a five-set thriller, 19-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-19, 15-8
EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 14 ranked Oregon volleyball team battled back after losing two of the first three sets on Friday night to beat Loyola Marymount in a five-set thriller, 19-25, 28-26, 24-26, 25-19, 15-8, on the second day of the Oregon Classic at Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks (3-1) were sluggish out of the gate and struggled with consistency throughout the night against a solid LMU team, but were able to use big scoring runs and a balanced attack in the final two sets to pull the match out and move to 2-0 in the Oregon Classic.
"LMU is a very good team," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "I'm just really proud of us. We knew it was going to be a frustrating match, and generally when you get frustrated that's when you fall apart, but we were able to hang in there and we finally got more disciplined and finally figured out the rhythm of the match. I'm proud of us for being able to pull it out that way."
How it Happened: Facing a 2-1 deficit in the fourth, the Ducks mounted a furious 7-1 run to take the set and force the match to a fifth game. Kills by Ronika Stone and Lauren Page ignited the scoring run, and Willow Johnson added two kills in a span of three points to help the Ducks gain separation.
LMU (1-3) started the fifth set well, jumping out to a 5-2 lead before Ulmer called a timeout. The Ducks caught fire out of the break, ripping off six straight points to take control of the set, 8-5. The Lions got back within a point, 9-8, before Oregon put together another big scoring run, this time a 6-0 stretch, to end the set and win the match. The Ducks did a good job of forcing LMU into mistakes in the final set, pressuring them into eight attack errors and a team hitting percentage of -.130.
The Lions took advantage of the slow start by the Ducks in the first set, forcing Oregon to burn both its timeouts while jumping out to leads of 10-5 and 16-11. Oregon began to mount a rally with four straight points to get within four, 22-18, but the Lions finished the set strong to take a 1-0 lead. The Ducks were held to a .167 hitting percentage as a team in the set with seven attack errors.Some sights from tonight's five-set thriller from @EricEvansPhoto #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/Tz01sifDF4
— Oregon Volleyball (@OregonVB) September 2, 2017
The Ducks and Lions went back and forth in the second set, with Oregon eventually separating with a 5-1 run to take a 21-16 lead. With Oregon leading 24-20, LMU fought off four set points and pushed the score to 26-26, but kills by Lindsey Vander Weide and Taylor Agost ended the drama and tied the match up at intermission.
The two teams played to a 20-20 tie in the third before LMU moved ahead, 23-21, but the Ducks responded with three straight points to gain set point, 24-23. LMU wouldn't go away, though, as the Lions fought off set point and then used an Oregon error and a kill to win the set and take a 2-1 advantage before Oregon mounted its comeback in the final two sets.
Who Stood Out: The Ducks finished with an impressive five players with double-digit kills while hitting .292 as a team, with Vander Weide leading the way with 15 kills and 18 digs for her second double-double. Stone put down 12 kills on .304 hitting with a career-high eight blocks, Johnson had 11 kills on .292 hitting, Page hit .333 with 11 kills and Agost finished with 10 kills at a .346 clip. August Raskie recorded her team-high third double-double of the year with 25 assists and 10 digs, and Maggie Scott led the Ducks with 27 assists. Sumeet Gill also had a strong match, matching Stone's eight blocks for a career-high of her own to go with five kills.
Notable: Vander Weide's 18 digs match a career-high for the junior ... The Ducks out-blocked the Lions, 16-10, behind Stone's eight … Oregon held LMU to a .192 team hitting percentage … Freshman Kyra Hanawahine saw the first extended action of her career, dishing out three assists with three digs ... The Ducks pulled out the win in their first five-set match of the season.
Up Next: Oregon will look to finish 3-0 in the Oregon Classic on Saturday when it takes on Northern Illinois (0-6) at 12 p.m. PT at MKA. LMU will wrap the three-day tournament against the University of Texas Rio-Grande Valley at 2 p.m.
Post-Match Interviews: Matt Ulmer, Head Coach
Taylor Agost, Senior Right Side Hitter
