Ducks Impress in First Live Action of 2018

EUGENE, Ore. - The 2018 Oregon volleyball team got its first taste of live action under the lights of Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday night, putting on an impressive display of talent and depth in the annual Green-Yellow Scrimmage after just three days of preseason practice.

Green officially won the match, 25-13, 21-25, 25-16, 21-25, 15-13, but the teams were shuffled around after each set as head coach Matt Ulmer and his staff evaluate what direction to go with the lineup when the No. 18 Ducks open up against No. 3 Texas and No. 2 Nebraska in less than two weeks.

"I was impressed with the level of play, really from everybody," said Ulmer. "We have six new faces, which is about half our roster, and I really like how they're adapting and I thought they all played really well. I've got a tough challenge ahead trying to figure out who's supposed to play where and how we're going to fit everybody in, but I think that's a good challenge to have. Overall, just really excited about what I saw tonight."

The preseason scrimmage was also the first chance for fans to see the Ducks in action, and more than 400 came out to see what the 2018 squad looks like after Oregon reached the NCAA Tournament for the seventh straight year in 2017.

"That was awesome. It's definitely the biggest fan turnout that we've had for an inter-squad scrimmage since I've been here, so that's exciting," said Ulmer. "I'm hoping we can break some attendance records here (this season), so this was a really good sign for us."

How it Happened: The Green team went on a 10-3 run to run away with the first set, with junior Ronika Stone putting down three kills down the stretch, including two of the final three points. Yellow was up 19-17 in the second before kills by Lindsey Vander Weide and Willow Johnson, and Vander Weide put down another to clinch the set for Yellow and lead all players with 12 kills at intermission.

The third set was tight until kills by Stone and Brooke Van Sickle helped Green take a 15-10 lead, and back-to-back kills again by Vander Weide and Johnson made it 20-12 before four consecutive Yellow errors gave Green the set win. Freshman Karson Bacon showed some of the promise that made her the nation's No. 11 ranked recruit in the fourth set, putting down three kills in four points to get Green within two, but the attack of Stone, Vander Weide, Johnson and junior transfer Taylor Borup was two much as Yellow won, 25-21. Brooke Van Sickle, a medical redshirt in 2017, shined in the fifth set for Yellow with four kills in six points before Green won, 15-13, to finish the scrimmage.

Who Stood Out: Stone and Vander Weide unofficially led all players with 18 kills apiece, while Borup and Lauren Page each had 10. Bacon put down nine kills between the two teams, but shined when she was on Green with eight kills on 12 attacks with no errors. Freshman Brooke Nuneviller was solid defensively with nearly 20 digs while also adding eight kills, and Van Sickle had nine kills and nine digs. Senior August Raskie dished out 38 assists with seven digs and freshman Kylie Robinson had 41 assists while running the Yellow team. The two liberos for the match, Kyra Hanawahine and Camryn Tastad, finished with roughly 23 and 15 digs, respectively. Sumeet Gill, Hanawahine, Johnson, Stone and Vander Weide were all on the winning team each of the five sets.

Quotable: Head coach Matt Ulmer
On what he was looking for in this scrimmage…
"I think for all athletes there's the physical side, but then there's the mental and emotional side — how do you handle it when the big lights are on and there's a crowd and a TV camera and all those things - so I'm just trying to see how I can evaluate them differently than in practice. It was nice to see who's going to compete and who's gonna step up when it's big-time, and that's what I was really impressed with tonight."

On who stood out to him…
"I thought Karson Bacon was fantastic. It's a really different system then what she's used to and we've only had three days of practice, so I thought she was really fantastic and that was exciting to see. There were a lot of people that I was impressed with, but she probably stands out the most with what she was able to do tonight."

Up Next: The Ducks will get another tune-up under the MKA lights next Saturday (7 p.m. PT) in their Alumni Match before heading to Nebraska to open their season at the VERT Challenge.