Notes: No. 8 Ducks Head to L.A. To Face No. 11 UCLA

Friday, September 22

Los Angeles, CA

8:00 PM

University of Oregon

UCLA

Photo by: Eric Evans/GoDucks.com

Notes: No. 8 Ducks Head to L.A. To Face No. 11 UCLA

09/21/17 | Women's Volleyball

Notes: #11 UCLA Buy Volleyball Tickets

The No. 8 Ducks put their seven-match winning streak on the line on Friday (8 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) in a top-15 match against No. 11 UCLA in their first true road match of the season

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 8 Oregon volleyball team, coming off a sweep of Oregon State to open Pac-12 play, will put its seven-match winning streak on the line at 8 p.m. PT on Friday when it takes on No. 11 UCLA at the John Wooden Center in Los Angeles..

The eight-ranked Ducks (8-1, 1-0 Pac-12) have swept their last five matches, with six total sweeps during the winning streak, and have won each of their last 17 sets. Oregon will face its most hostile challenge of the season against the 11th-ranked Bruins (7-3, 0-1 Pac-12), playing in its first true road match of the year.

HOW TO FOLLOW
The Ducks' match in Los Angeles against the Bruins will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks, with Anne Marie Anderson (pxp) and Holly McPeak (analyst) on the call. Live statistics can be found at oregon.statbroadcast.com, and live updates will be provided during the match on Twitter via @OregonVB.

ABOUT THE BRUINS
After winning their first five matches to open the season, the 11th-ranked Bruins were swept twice at Nebraska and dropped their conference opener on Wednesday to No. 21 USC in five sets. UCLA has five players averaging more than 2.00 kills per set, but has struggled with efficiency, ranking 10th in the conference in hitting percentage (.253) and last in opponent hitting percentage (.205).

PAC-12 PLAY OPENS WITH CIVIL WAR SWEEP
The Ducks kicked off conference play in impressive fashion at Matthew Knight Arena on Tuesday night, sweeping Oregon State in straight sets, 25-14, 25-23, 25-19. Oregon spread the attack around against the Beavers and hit an impressive .395 as a team while holding Oregon State to a .179 clip and Beaver star Mary-Kate Marshall to four kills on minus-.042 hitting. SO OH Jolie Rasmussen and JR OH Lindsey Vander Weide led Oregon with 12 kills apiece, SO RS Willow Johnson had 10 and three others had at least five.

DUCKS AMONG PAC-12 AND NATION'S BEST
The No. 8 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 leads the Pac-12 and is fourth in the nation with 14.97 kills per set, and also leads the conference and is seventh in the country in hitting percentage (.311). The Ducks are also third in the Pac-12 and 15th nationally with 13.55 assists per set. Defensively, the Ducks are 32nd in the country and second in the conference in opponent hitting percentage (.151), and 50th in th nation in blocks per set (2.59).

STONE LEADING PAC-12 IN HITTING PERCENTAGE
Multiple Ducks are at or near the top of various Pac-12 statistical rankings through nine matches this season. SO MB Ronika Stone leads the conference and is 14th in the country with a .429 hitting percentage, while SO RS Willow Johnson is sixth in the Pac-12 at .372. Stone is also seventh in the conference with 0.39 aces per set, and JR OH Lindsey Vander Weide is eighth with 3.45 kills per set and ninth with 3.89 points per set. SR S Maggie Scott ranks ninth in the conference with 6.84 assists per set.

DUCKS BOASTING BALANCED ATTACK
The Oregon attack has been coming from all directions so far this season, with six players averaging better than 2.00 kills per set for a conference-leading 14.97 kills per set as a team. The Ducks also lead the conference with a .311 team hitting percentage while holding their opponents to a .154 clip, the second-best mark in the Pac-12.

DUCKS CRACK AVCA TOP 10
The Ducks moved into the AVCA top 10 at No. 8 this week for the first time since November 2014, jumping three spots from 11th despite having the week off from competition. The Ducks' No. 8 ranking is the program's highest since being No. 8 in the 2013 preseason poll, and they have been ranked inside the top 15 for four straight weeks. Oregon has not earned top-10 rankings in back-to-back weeks since 2012.

AGOST SWINGING AND RARELY MISSING
SR RS Taylor Agost was tremendous in the Nike Classic (9/7-9) with only two attack errors on 42 swings for a .619 weekend hitting percentage, and she was rewarded by being named the Nike Classic MVP, Pac-12 offensive player of the week and Prep Volleyball national college player of the week. Agost set career-highs for hitting percentage in back-to-back matches, hitting .733 with 11 kills on 15 swings without an error against Cal Poly, and then .750 with nine kills on 12 attempts without an error a night later against No. 23 Wichita State. Agost now has only six attack errors in her last six matches (94 TA) and is hitting .320 on the season.

ANOTHER STREAK TO ENTER PAC-12 PLAY
The Ducks carried a significant winning streak into their conference schedule for the second straight year, winning six straight to close nonconference play this season after taking a seven-match winning streak into last year's Pac-12 opener against the Beavers. Oregon would win its first four Pac-12 matches last year to push its winning streak to 11.

DUCKS DOMINATE IN NIKE CLASSIC
The Ducks closed out nonconference play with a dominant weekend in the Nike Classic on Sept. 7-9, sweeping Cal Poly, No. 23 Wichita State and Duquesne. The wins over Cal Poly and Wichita State will prove to be big RPI wins for the Ducks over a pair of potential NCAA Tournament teams. SR RS Taylor Agost (3.11 k/s, .619) was named tournament MVP after an enourmous weekend, and SO RS Willow Johnson (3.44 k/s, .421, 1.11 b/s) and SO MB Ronika Stone (1.89 k/s, .593, 1.67 b/s) joined Agost on the all-tournament team.

DUCKS SWEEP OREGON CLASSIC
The 14th-ranked Ducks opened their 2017 home schedule with a three-match sweep of the Oregon Classic at Matthew Knight Arena, defeating Texas-Rio Grande Valley and Northern Illinois in straight sets and Loyola Marymount in a five-set thriler. SO MB Ronika Stone (2.09 k/s, .462, 1.18 b/s, 7 sa) was named the tournament MVP for the second year in a row, while SR S Maggie Scott (6.27 a/s, 1.64 d/s, 3 sa) and JR OH Lindsey Vander Weide (3.73 k/s, .264, 3.36 d/s, 4 sa) earned all-tournament status.

ULMER ERA BEGINS WITH TOP-FIVE WIN
The Ducks got head coach Matt Ulmer's UO career off to a magical start at the VERT Challenge in Gainesville, Fla., upsetting No. 5 Nebraska in four sets for the program's first win over a top-five team since beating No. 1 Penn State in December 2012. The win also gave UO its first win in the VERT Challenge, now in the third year of the tournament. The Ducks would play then-No. 1 Texas tough the following day, winning the first set before falling in four tightly-played sets. JR OH Lindsey Vander Weide (3.75 k/s, 2.00 d/s, sa) was named to the VERT Challenge all-tournament team. SO OH Brooke Van Sickle was outstanding for Oregon against Nebraska, recording career-highs in digs (22) and aces (3) while adding 11 kills for her first career double-double. Vander Weide (14 kills, 11 digs) and JR S August Raskie (22 assists, 14 digs) also added double-doubles for Oregon, SO RS Willow Johnson had a great night with 13 kills on .387 hitting and JR MB Sumeet Gill led the team with seven blocks.

UP NEXT
The Ducks will head to the mountain schools next week, traveling to Salt Lake City to face No. 16 Utah on September 29 before going to Boulder to play No. 25 Colorado on September 30.