Ducks Host Utah, Colorado in Final Regular Season Home Matches

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 16 Oregon volleyball team returns to Eugene for its final two home matches of the regular season this week, welcoming Utah and Colorado to Matthew Knight Arena.

Coming off a split at the Bay Area schools, the Ducks are looking for a strong finish over the final four matches as they try to climb up into position to host in the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament. UO is currently No. 23 in the NCAA RPI rankings in addition to being No. 16 in the AVCA coaches poll.

Friday's match against the Buffaloes will also be Oregon's Senior Night, honoring Sumeet Gill, Lauren Page, August Raskie, Lindsey Vander Weide and Haley McLaren.

NOTES
Oregon Fighting For Second in Pac-12
At 10-6 in conference, Oregon currently sits in a tie with Washington State for third place in the Pac-12 and is fighting to match its best conference finish in program history. USC is one game ahead at 11-5, while No. 2 Stanford has clinched the Pac-12 title at 16-0. The Ducks' highest conference finish in program history is second, which they have achieved twice (2012, 1978).

Ducks All Over Pac-12, NCAA Leaderboards
With just four matches left in the 2018 regular season, Oregon finds itself littered across the top of many Pac-12 and national team and individual statistic leaderboards:

Team Statistic	Pac-12	NCAA
13.85 Assists/Set	2nd	4th
14.74 Kills/Set	2nd	6th
.259 Hitting Pct.	2nd	24th
16.33 Digs/Set	2nd	69th

Name	Statistic	Pac-12	NCAA
Brooke Nuneviller	4.94 Digs/Set	1st	58th
August Raskie	11.98 Assists/Set	2nd	4th
Ronika Stone	1.25 Blocks/Set	5th	48th
Sumeet Gill	.354 Hitting Pct.	7th	64th
Ronika Stone	.338 Hitting Pct.	9th	95th
Lindsey Vander Weide	4.02 Points/Set	10th	115th

Seven Pac-12 Teams in AVCA Top 25
At No. 16 in the latest AVCA coaches poll, the Ducks are one of seven teams from the conference in this week's top 25. Pac-12 champion Stanford leads the way at No. 2, and is followed by USC (14), Oregon (16), Washington State (18), Washington (20), Arizona (24) and UCLA (25). Utah, Colorado and Arizona State have all been in the top 25 at some point this season, and the Buffs and Utes are both currently receiving top 25 votes. The Ducks have been inside the top 25 every week this season, reaching as high as No. 12 (three times).

Oregon Splits at Bay Area Schools
The Ducks came away with a split last weekend in the Bay Area, falling at No. 2 Stanford in four before sweeping Cal in Haas Pavilion. Oregon had leads in each of the first two sets against the Cardinal, narrowly falling 26-24 and 25-22, and then rebounded to win the third, 25-22, before losing in four. The Ducks bounced back at Cal, sweeping the Bears behind double-digit kills from SR OH Lindsey Vander Weide (16 K, .343), JR OH Taylor Borup (12 K, .400) and JR RS Willow Johnson (11 K, .346). Oregon hit .310 as a team.

Ducks Battle Through Adversity in First Meetings with Mountain Schools (Oct. 12-14)
The Ducks came away with a road split their last time playing against the mountain schools despite tough circumstances, beating Colorado in four before falling to Utah in four. SR S August Raskie led the way at Colorado with her first career triple-double, and SR OH Lindsey Vander Weide notched a team-high 17 kills. The Ducks played through some adversity at Utah, playing with just six players for much of the match after JR OH Taylor Borup left in the second set with an injury and multiple players were out for a violation of team rules. The Ducks still managed to win the fourth set, 26-24, and nearly pushed the match to a fifth with a 25-23 loss in the fourth. Vander Weide led the way with 19 kills, and SR MB Sumeet Gill broke out of a slump with a career-high 13 kills on .684 hitting.

Stone Throws Block Party in MKA
JR MB Ronika Stone was a monster on the block on Nov. 4 against No. 22 UCLA, racking up a career-high 12 rejections (one solo) while leading the Ducks past the Bruins. Stone's 12 blocks are tied for 10th-most in UO single-match history and are the most by a Duck since SR MB/OH Lauren Page had 12 in 2016 at Colorado, and she ranks fifth in the Pac-12 with 1.25 blocks per set. Stone added 12 kills against UCLA for her second double-double of the year, and was one of four Ducks to finish with a double-double along with RSO L/OH Brooke Van Sickle (11 K, 16 D), SR OH Lindsey Vander Weide (11 K, 10 D) and SR S August Raskie (46 A, 11 D).

Nuneviller Wins Third Pac-12 Weekly Honor
FR L Brooke Nuneviller was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week for the third time this season on Oct. 29 after shining in her home state of Arizona (Oct. 26-28). The Chandler, Ariz., racked up 45 total digs (6.43 d/s) in UO's two wins over ASU and Arizona, including 27 in the win at the No. 23 Wildcats to go with a career-high four aces. Nuneviller now owns three of Oregon's six Pac-12 weekly awards this season. The Chandler, Ariz., is currently leading the Pac-12 with 4.94 digs per set, and she has double-digit digs in 18 consecutive matches.

Raskie Records Triple-Double in Home State
With 41 assists, 11 digs and a career-high 10 kills on Oct. 12 at Colorado, SR S August Raskie recorded the first triple-double of her career and the first this season by a Pac-12 player. A Colorado native, Raskie notched just the 17th documented triple-double in UO history, and became the first Duck to complete the feat since 2001 (Julie Gerlach, 9/8/01). Raskie commited no errors on 14 attack attempts to hit a whopping .714, which was also a new career-high. Raskie is one of just 29 players in the nation this season to have a triple-double, and the senior leads the Ducks with 11 double-doubles.

Vander Weide Joins 1,000/1,000 Club
With a career-high 28 digs in UO's five-set win over WSU on Sept. 23, SR OH Lindsey Vander Weide surpassed 1,000 for her career and became only the fifth player in Oregon history to have 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs. Vander Weide's 1,328 career kills rank 36th in the nation among active players, and she is in the top 10 all-time at Oregon in points (1,552.5; 5th), kills (1,328; 9th) and digs (1,141; 10th). The Turlock, Calif., native added a season-high 22 kills vs. the Cougars for the first 20-plus kill, 20-plus dig match of her career. Vander Weide leads the Ducks with 3.48 kills per set and 4.02 points per set, both of which would be career-highs for a season for the 2016 third-team all-American.

Newest "Little Duck" Gives Oregon Volleyball a True Warrior
Oregon officially added a sixth member to its 2018 class on August 7, 2018, signing 8-year-old Eugene-native Danielle Bixby to the roster through the national non-profit Team IMPACT. Bixby has been fighting a rare form of cancer called Langerhans Cell Histiocytosis for the last year, and has become incredibly close with the Ducks over the last few months. "I'm their little Duck, and they're my girls," Danielle said after signing her letter of intent. The Ducks honored Danielle on Sept. 30 vs. ASU with a Stomp Out Cancer match to raise childhood cancer awareness. Danielle was recognized as a starter before the match, took part in most of the in-game promotions and even surprised the team in the locker room postgame with custom-made dolls of each player made by her mom, Shannon.

Up Next
The Ducks will wrap the regular season on the road next week with matches at No. 20 Washington and Oregon State.