Ducks Outlast Dawgs in Top-20 Thriller in Seattle

Wednesday, November 21

Seattle, WA

6:00 PM

University of Oregon

19-10, 12-7Pac-12

Washington

18-11, 10-9Pac-12

Oregon

Washington

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

11/21/18 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box: #17 Oregon 3, #19 Washington 2

By: Nate Krueger

SEATTLE – The No. 17 Oregon volleyball team overcame a 2-1 deficit on Wednesday night to pick up a huge road win over No. 19 Washington, outlasting the Huskies 16-25, 25-23, 12-25, 25-20, 15-13 in a five-set thriller in front of 2,466 fans at Alaska Airlines Arena.

The Ducks improved to 19-10 overall and 12-7 in Pac-12 play with the win, moving them into a tie with USC for second in the Pac-12 entering Saturday's regular-season finale at Oregon State.

"I'm just really proud of this team," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "Nothing was going right for us early on, but so many people stepped up…Really just a lot of really big performances. That's a really big win for us.

"This was really important for us because we're trying to take that next step as a program, which for us means finishing near the top of the Pac-12. And to have Taylor (Borup) out, generally that's an excuse for us, but we had so many people step up and we were just able to find that right mixture and they made it happen. It was a true team win, which really makes it special."

How it Happened: The Ducks were never able to find their rhythm in the opening set, falling into a 13-5 deficit while using both of their timeouts. Husky errors helped Oregon get within five, 15-10, but the Ducks scored consecutive points just once the rest of the way as UW took a 1-0 lead.

Washington led 7-4 in the second set when the Ducks ripped off an 8-2 run that included three kills by Lauren Page and two each from Willow Johnson and Sumeet Gill. The Huskies battled back to take a 21-17 lead, but another kill by Page ignited a 6-0 run that was capped by a Brooke Van Sickle ace. After back-to-back Husky points tied it at 23-23, Johnson took control with two straight kills to give the Ducks the set and even the match at a set apiece going into intermission.

The third set was tied 4-4 early on, but the Huskies used a 7-1 run to pull ahead and then took firm control of the game with 4-0 run that made it 18-8. The Ducks scored consecutive points just one in the frame as Washington took a 2-1 lead into the fourth.

The Ducks responded well after a disappointing third set, jumping out to a 9-5 lead. Leading 13-10, the Ducks scored five out of six to extend their lead to 18-11, and kills by Page and Lindsey Vander Weide made it 20-13 after two straight UW points. The Huskies scored three in a row to get within 23-16, but a kill by Ronika Stone gave Oregon set-point and Vander Weide sent the match to a fifth game with her 15th kill of the night.

Two kills by Stone and one each from Page and August Raskie helped the Ducks to a 4-2 lead to start the fifth, and Oregon led 5-4 when Stone, Page and Vander Weide ripped off three straight to make it 8-4 as the teams switched sides. With the Ducks up 9-5, Washington came roaring back with five consecutive points to take the lead, but Johnson and Page answered for the Ducks with back-to-back kills to put Oregon back in front. Vander Weide then broke a 12-12 tie with a kill and a Washington error gave Oregon match-point, 14-12. A service error kept UW alive, but the Ducks made a good pass on the ensuing serve and Raskie found Stone on a slide attack for the win. "Ronika, I've been begging her in those tight situations to just come through and go for it, and she did, so that was really cool," said Ulmer.

Who Stood Out: Vander Weide led the Ducks with 18 kills on .326 hitting and added 17 digs for her 12th double-double, and Johnson hit .353 with 15 kills and an ace while playing all the way around for the final two sets. Stone had 12 kills (.391), Page finished with 11 and Raskie came up just short of her second triple-double with 61 assists, 12 digs and eight kills. Brooke Nuneviller was stellar defensively again with a match-high 22 digs, and Van Sickle finished with 10 digs and an ace.

What it Means: Still hoping to earn a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament and host the opening rounds in Eugene, the Ducks strengthened their resume with a road win over a top-20 opponent. Oregon opened the week at No. 21 in the NCAA RPI rankings with Washington at No. 19, and Florida (No. 20) also lost on Wednesday, so the Ducks should see their number rise closer to the top 16 going into Saturday's Civil War. Oregon is also a win and a USC loss away from placing second in the Pac-12, which would match its best conference finish in program history.

Notable: Raskie kept her hold on the team lead with her 13th double-double, and she finished with 60 or more assists for the third time this year … Raskie raised her career assists total to 2,715, moving her past Molly McGrath (1988-91) for No. 6 in UO history … Raskie also moved into No. 9 in UO single-season history with 1,272 assists this year … Nuneviller extended her streak of double-digit digs to 21 straight matches and notched her ninth 20-plus dig match of the year … Stone's two block assists moved her into a tie with Dawnn Charroin (1988-91) and Kristen Bitter (2003-06) for No. 4 in Oregon history with 310 career block assists.

Up Next: The Ducks will wrap the regular season on Saturday with a 7 p.m. Civil War showdown against Oregon State in Corvallis. The NCAA Tournament selection show is set for 5:30 p.m. PT on Sunday on ESPNU.