No. 12 Ducks Set to Wrap Nonconference With Two at Hawai'i

Thursday, September 13

Honolulu, HI

10:00 PM

University of Oregon

Hawai'i

Photo by: @EricEvansPhoto

No. 12 Ducks Set to Wrap Nonconference With Two at Hawai'i

09/11/18 | Women's Volleyball

VB Notes: Hawai'i

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 12 Oregon volleyball team will play Hawai'i on back-to-back nights this Thursday and Friday at the famed Stan Sheriff Center in its final two nonconference matches before the start of Pac-12 Conference play.

The Ducks (5-3) are coming off a successful weekend at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Stanford, Calif., where they knocked off top-ranked Minnesota with their most complete effort of the season before dropping a hard-fought battle with No. 5 Penn State. The Ducks moved up six spots in the AVCA coaches rankings after defeating the Golden Gophers.

#12 OREGON (5-3) at HAWAI'I (4-3)
When: Thursday, September 13 & Friday, September 14 | Times: 10 p.m. PT
Where: Honolulu, Hawaii | Venue: Stan Sheriff Center
Live Stream: BigWest.TV | Live Stats: oregon.statbroadcast.com | Follow: @OregonVB
All-Time Series: UH leads, 3-2 (UO W1) | Last Meeting: UO won, 3-2 (2014, Honolulu)
About Hawai'i: Hawai'i picked up wins over Idaho and SDSU but lost to Portland last weekend in the Outrigger Volleyball Challenge. The Rainbow Wahine went 2018 last season, including a 14-2 conference record to place second in the Big West. UH lost six seniors and has five newcomers in 2018, but returns all-Big-West first-team selections McKenna Granato (OH) and Norene Iosia (S). Hawai'i is 29th in the NCAA this season with 14.1 kills per set.

NOTES:
Oregon Pulls Upset of No. 1 Minnesota
The Ducks picked up one of the program's biggest wins in recent memory last Friday, defeating top-ranked Minnesota, 25-23, 25-23, 25-27, 25-23, for Oregon's first win over a No. 1 ranked team since UO beat Penn State in the 2012 Final Four. Oregon outperformed Minnesota statistically in hitting percentage (.298-.295), kills (74-63), digs (65-63) and aces (5-2). JR MB Ronika Stone led the way with a career-high 19 kills on .615 hitting, and JR RS Willow Johnson hit .278 with 16 kills. Left sides Lauren Page (career-high 16 K, .324) and Lindsey Vander Weide (14 K, .279) delivered breakout performances, FR L Brooke Nuneviller shined defensively with a match-high 28 digs, and SR S August Raskie filled up the stat sheet with a career-high 66 assists, the most by a Duck since 2012, plus eight digs and two kills.

Nuneviller Named Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
FR L Brooke Nuneviller was named the Pac-12 freshman of the week on Monday after shining last weekend with 44 total digs and two aces against No. 1 Minnesota and No. 5 Penn State. Nuneviller helped lead the Ducks to the upset of the top-ranked Gophers with a match-leading and season-high 28 digs before adding a team-best 16 vs. the Nittany Lions. Nuneviller has immediately helped to stabalize the back-row defense for the Ducks. The Chandler, Ariz., native leads Oregon and is third in the Pac-12 this season with 4.65 digs per set (121 total), and she has committed only three receiving errors while impressing with her stellar passing.

Ducks All Over Pac-12, NCAA Leaderboards
Eight matches into the 2018 season, Oregon finds itself littered across the top of many Pac-12 and national team and individual statistic leaderboards:

Team Statistic	P12 Rank	NCAA Rank
15.23 Kills/Set	1st	3rd
14.35 Assists/Set	1st	3rd
2.00 Aces/Set	1st	7th
16.69 Digs/Set	2nd	36th
.268 Hitting Percentage	4th	25th

Name	Statistic	P12 Rank	NCAA Rank
Sumeet Gill	.438 Hitting Percentage	1st	13th
August Raskie	12.73 Assists/Set	1st	2nd
Brooke Van Sickle	0.62 Aces/Set	1st	T13th
Brooke Nuneviller	4.65 Digs/Set	3rd	72nd
Willow Johnson	.394 Hitting Percentage	6th	39th
Ronika Stone	.390 Hitting Percentage	7th	44th

Vander Weide, Raskie Crack Top-10 Lists
With 81 points so far in 2018, SR OH Lindsey Vander Weide has pushed her career total to 1,271.5 to move into the Oregon all-time top-10 list. Vander Weide is only 15.5 points shy of Martenne Bettendorf for ninth all-time at Oregon. Vander Weide also owns 1,085 career kills, 198 shy of No. 10 all-time at Oregon, and she is only 48 digs away from reaching the 1,000 mark in that category as well. SR S/RS August Raskie has also moved into a UO all-time top-10 list this season, racking up 331 assists through the first eight matches to run her career total to 1,774, the 10th-most in Oregon history. Raskie leads the Pac-12 and is No. 2 in the NCAA this season with 12.73 assists per set.

Middles Running Wild in 5-1 Offense
Oregon's change this season from a 6-2 offense to a 5-1 around SR S August Raskie has paid immediate dividends for middle blockers Sumeet Gill and Ronika Stone, who have thrived with the increased touches. Gill leads the Pac-12 and is 13th nationally with a .438 hitting percentage while averaging 2.31 kills per set, and Stone is averaging 3.19 kills per set while ranking seventh in the conference with a .390 hitting percentage. Gill has already set a career-high in kills twice this year with 12 (vs. LBSU & UAPB), and Stone led the Ducks to the upset of No. 1 Minnesota on Sept. 8 with a career-high 19 kills on .615 hitting. JR RS Willow Johnson is also playing well with Raskie as the lone setter, as the lefty ranks sixth in the Pac-12 with a .394 hitting percentage while leading UO with 3.31 kills per set.

Ducks Dominate Oregon Classic
After picking up their first win of 2018 on Aug. 28 vs. Portland State, the Ducks completed an undefeated weekend at the Oregon Classic in Matthew Knight Arena with dominant sweeps of Utah Valley, Long Beach State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff. SR S/RS August Raskie was named the Oregon Classic MVP after averaging 12.00 assists and 2.11 digs per set while adding four aces, six kills and six blocks. SR MB Sumeet Gill and JR RS Willow Johnson were also named to the all-tournament team. Gill hit an astounding .622 with 3.22 kills per set over the weekend, twice recording a career-high 12 kills, and Johnson averaged 3.00 kills per set on .500 hitting.

Van Sickle Serves Ducks to Sweep in Home Opener
The Ducks picked up their first win of the 2018 season on Aug. 28 in their home opener with a dominant 25-15, 25-10, 25-13 sweep of Portland State. RSO L/OH Brooke Van Sickle dominated on the serve with a career-high nine aces, the second-most in UO single-match history, to lead the Ducks to 13 total. Van Sickle leads the Pac-12 through eight matches this season with 0.62 aces per set (16 total).

Oregon Gets Valuable Experience Against Elite Opponents
Oregon was unable to come away with a win in their opening weekend at the VERT Challenge in Lincoln, Neb., but the Ducks gained valuable experience playing a pair of top-three teams in an NCAA Tournament-like environment in front of 8,000-plus fans. Oregon was right with No. 3 Texas and No. 2 Nebraska in every set, but struggled putting its opponents away late in sets. Said HC Matt Ulmer: "I thought the talent for each team was very comparable as well as the styles of play, but we have to be mentally tougher and we have to outthink our opponents a little bit better."

Johnson Shines on Opening Weekend
JR RS Willow Johnson got her junior season off to a terrific start at the VERT Challenge, earning a spot on the all-tournament team after leading UO with 3.57 kills per set on .380 hitting. Johnson was stellar in the season opener vs. No. 3 Texas, tying her career-high with 17 kills to lead all players while hitting .517. Also impressing for the Ducks in Lincoln were FR L Brooke Nuneviller (3.86 d/s) and SR MB Sumeet Gill (1.86 k/s, .379).

Up Next
Oregon will open Pac-12 play with a Civil War matchup against Oregon State on Thursday, Sept. 20, in Matthew Knight Arena before hosting Washington State on Sunday, Sept. 23.