Season Ends In Elite Eight

Saturday, December 8

Minneapolis, MN

3:00 PM

University of Oregon

23-11

Nebraska

28-6

Oregon

Nebraska

Photo by: Eric Miller

12/08/18 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Final Box: Nebraska 3, Oregon 0

Oregon wasn't as successful finishing off sets Saturday against Nebraska as it was one night earlier, and the Ducks saw their NCAA Tournament run end in a three-set loss.

By: Rob Moseley

MINNEAPOLIS — Had only a handful of points gone the other way Friday night, the Oregon volleyball team wouldn't have even found itself playing for a spot in the Final Four against Nebraska on Saturday.

The margin was that slim between the Ducks and Minnesota on Friday, when Oregon eked out a four-set win that included a 41-39 second set. And the margin was that slim between Oregon and the Cornhuskers on Saturday, most of the night anyway. But this time, it was the UO opposition that won the key points late in sets.

Thus, the No. 15 Ducks saw their memorable run through the NCAA Tournament end Saturday night in the regional finals. Oregon led midway through each of the first two sets and was fighting gamely in the third before ultimately losing in three, 25-22, 25-23, 25-17, before a neutral-site crowd of 4,806 in Minnesota's Maturi Pavilion composed mostly of red-clad Nebraska fans.

"I was pleased with how we came out," said UO coach Matt Ulmer, whose team had less than 24 hours to bounce back from the emotional high of upsetting the Golden Gophers in epic fashion Friday. "For two-and-a-half sets, we were right there. But we won those close ones last night. And tonight, we didn't."

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Oregon finished the season at 23-10, having matched the best Pac-12 finish in school history by tying for second place at 13-7. The careers of a senior class headlined by six-rotation star Lindsey Vander Weide and setter August Raskie came to an end, while the cast of returners will be led by Minneapolis Regional all-tournament team selections Ronika Stone and Brooke Nuneviller, who were joined on the team by Raskie.

Stone led the Ducks with nine kills Saturday, and increasingly drew the focus of Nebraska's block as the Cornhuskers looked to put the match away late in the third set.

"I'm so proud of the team," Stone said, fighting back tears in the post-match press conference. "I just wish we could have done it for our seniors. Because they're such a great group. They all had such an amazing career at Oregon."

Nuneviller followed up her 25-dig performance in Friday's win over Minnesota with another 26 on Saturday. Just a freshman, she'll be joined in the rotation next year by her classmates, setter Kylie Robinson and middle blocker Karson Bacon, two elite recruits the Ducks could afford to redshirt behind Raskie and senior middles Lauren Page and Sumeet Gill.

"I just see so much talent in the future, and so much potential," Nuneviller said. "We can keep growing off moments like this."

The Ducks and Cornhuskers traded points early in the opening set, until Oregon ripped off three straight capped by a Stone kill for a 13-10 lead. Nebraska rallied back before three straight UO errors put the Cornhuskers in command at 23-20.

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There wasn't much cause for concern on the Oregon bench at that point; the Ducks brought a five-match win streak into Saturday, and had dropped the opening set in three of those five wins — including Friday against Minnesota. Nebraska coach John Cook signaled how badly he wanted to deny the Ducks momentum, using all three of his challenges in the second set, in which the Huskers battled back from an 18-14 deficit and held off Oregon, 25-23.

The Ducks and Huskers met for the second time this season, the first another Nebraska sweep on the opening weekend. Cook's familiarity with this UO senior class goes all the way back to 2015, when Vander Weide had 20 kills in a five-set win for the Huskers.

"They've got some great players, and they have a great system they run," Cook said. "For them to come in here and beat Minnesota, we know how hard that is. It's monumental to be able to do that — what they did last night, and how they did it. I have a lot of respect and give (Ulmer) a lot of credit for getting them to this place."

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For all Oregon's success rallying back from first-set losses in recent weeks, the Ducks didn't come back from down 0-2 this season — and Saturday was no different. Oregon rallied back from a 5-2 hole to lead 7-6, but Nebraska scored four in a row to retake the lead and methodically put away the match.

Ulmer said the Ducks weren't aggressive enough with their serve to disrupt a Nebraska attack led by Mikaela Foecke (16 kills) and Lauren Stivrins (11 kills). Untimely communication errors popped up too, and late in the match Oregon tried to force some things offensively, he said.

"That's kind of been our m.o. — when things go bad, we tried to do too much," Ulmer said.

Given the level of competition in this tournament, the Ducks had no margin for such errors Saturday. That they didn't commit them Friday was key to the epic upset of Minnesota. That they did commit them Saturday will fuel the drive off returners like Stone and Nuneviller all offseason, setting up a 2019 season that very much figures to feature another UO volleyball team with Final Four potential.