Ducks Beat OSU, Match Best-Ever Pac-12 Finish

Saturday, November 24

Corvallis, OR

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

20-10, 13-7Pac-12

Oregon State

11-21, 1-19Pac-12

Oregon

OSU

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

11/24/18 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box: #17 Oregon 3, OSU 1

By: Nate Krueger

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The 17th-ranked Oregon volleyball team closed the regular season with a 19-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-14 Civil War victory over Oregon State on Saturday night to tie for second place in the Pac-12 and match the best conference finish in program history.

"To finish second in the Pac-12 is a big accomplishment for our program," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "I'm really proud of this team and I'm happy for the seniors; they're trying to leave a legacy, they want to leave the program better than they found it and they're trying to help us get to the top in the country, and this is definitely a part of that process."

Oregon wraps the regular season at 20-10 overall and 13-7 in Pac-12 play, tied with USC for second place in the conference. With the win, the Ducks strengthened their case to host in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament, a fate they'll learn when the postseason field is announced on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. PT on ESPNU.

"Do we deserve to host? Yeah, we do," said Ulmer. "But there's a lot of other teams that also deserve to host. We haven't been perfect, but I think we're playing good volleyball and I think we're good enough that we deserve that opportunity. But whether we're home or away, we're excited to get after it. This is the best time of the year."

How it Happened: The Ducks struggled to get going offensively in the first set, recording just seven kills to OSU's 19. Oregon still managed to play to a 14-13 lead, but Oregon State finished the set on a 12-5 run to take a 1-0 match lead.

Willow Johnson jumpstarted the Ducks in the second set with three consecutive kills, and Ronika Stone later started a 5-0 run with a kill as Oregon took an 11-8 lead. A kill by August Raskie opened a 3-0 run that made it 19-14, and Johnson and Stone traded kills down the stretch as Oregon finished on a 4-0 run to even the match at a set apiece. Johnson and Stone each had six kills in the set to carry the UO offense.

The Ducks came out firing in the third set, racing out to a 10-2 advantage before kills by Lindsey Vander Weide, Stone and Raskie and an ace by Brooke Van Sickle gave Oregon its biggest lead of the night, 15-4. The Beavers responded with seven out of eight to get within six, 18-12, but three kills by Van Sickle helped the Ducks finish the set on a 7-4 run and take a 2-1 lead in the match.

Johnson opened the fourth set with consecutive kills, and Vander Weide added a kill and an ace to fuel Oregon to a 6-0 lead. Leading 16-11, another kill by Johnson started a 7-0 Ducks run to make it 23-11, Johnson found the floor once again to earn match-point and Van Sickle hammered a ball off the block to seal the victory.

Top highlights from tonight's four-set win over the Beavers ??

Next: We dance. #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/ieWb458fAF
— Oregon Volleyball (@OregonVB) November 25, 2018

Who Stood Out: Johnson led the Ducks with 14 kills on .324 hitting, and Stone finished with 11 to go with a match-high eight blocks, five digs and an ace. Vander Weide notched her 12th double-double with 10 kills and 20 digs, and Raskie earned her team-best 13th with 39 assists and 13 digs. Brooke Nuneviller was solid defensively again with 21 digs plus two aces, and Van Sickle enjoyed a well-rounded match with seven kills, nine digs, six blocks and two aces. As a team, Oregon finished with 13.5 blocks to Oregon State's three.

What it Means: The Ducks last finished second in the Pac-12 in 2012, the year they played their way to the national championship match, and their only other second-place conference finishes came in 1985 and 1978. After entering the week at No. 21, Oregon's win at Washington on Wednesday vaulted the Ducks into the top 16 of the unofficial RPI rankings, putting them squarely in the conversation to host the opening rounds of the postseason at Matthew Knight Arena. Oregon last hosted in 2014, when it was 11-9 and fourth in conference play.

Record Book Movement: Just a junior, Stone is already tied with Cathy Hill (1998-91) for No. 3 all-time at Oregon with 317 career block assists ... Stone is also tied with Serena Warner (2014) for No. 9 in single-season history with 115 block assists ... Raskie is now fifth all-time with 2,754 career assists, and her 1,311 assists this season are currently eighth-best in single-season history ... Vander Weide raised her career dig total to 1,194, moving her into No. 7 in UO history ... Vander Weide is also now tied with Melissa Terzian (1986-89) for ninth all-time with 106 aces ... Nuneviller's 509 digs this year currently rank No. 8 in single-season history.

Up Next: The 2018 NCAA Tournament selection show will begin at 5:30 p.m. PT tomorrow on ESPNU.