No. 12 Ducks Open Pac-12 Play With Civil War Showdown

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 12 Oregon volleyball team will open Pac-12 Conference play on Thursday with a Civil War match against Oregon State in Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks (7-3) are coming off a rigorous nonconference schedule that featured four opponents ranked in the AVCA top five, headlined by a four-set win over then-No. 1 Minnesota on Sept. 8. Oregon, the second-highest ranked team in the Pac-12 behind No. 2 Stanford, will open conference action against the Beavers (10-2) before welcoming No. 22 Washington State (9-1) to MKA on Sunday.

#12 OREGON (7-3) vs. OREGON STATE (10-2)
When: Thursday, September 20
Time: 6 p.m. PT
Where: Eugene, Ore.
Venue: Matthew Knight Arena
TV: Pac-12 Network (Rich Burk and Amy Gant)
Radio: KWVA 88.1 FM (Matt Tyra)
Live Stats: oregon.statbroadcast.com
Promotions: BEOREGON Match; Chalk Talk with HC Matt Ulmer (5:20 p.m., Founders Club)
All-Time Series: UO leads, 75-43-1
Last Meeting: UO won, 3-2 (11/24/17, Corvallis)
About Oregon State: OSU is 10-2 and riding a five-match winning streak entering the Civil War, including a win over No. 23 San Diego. The Beavers are second in the Pac-12 in blocks per set (3.2) and third in opponent hitting percentage (.150). Grace Massey leads the conference with 4.70 digs per set, and both Lindsey Schell (1.43) and Maddy Gravely (1.27) are in the Pac-12 top 10 in blocks per set. OSU swept Seattle Tuesday in its home opener.

#12 OREGON (7-3) vs. #22 WASHINGTON STATE (9-1)
When: Sunday, September 23
Time: 12 p.m. PT
Where: Eugene, Ore.
Venue: Matthew Knight Arena
TV: Pac-12 Network
Radio: KWVA 88.1 FM (Matt Tyra)
Live Stats: oregon.statbroadcast.com
Promotions: Chalk Talk with HC Matt Ulmer (11:20 a.m., Founders Club)
All-Time Series: UO leads, 54-33-1
Last Meeting: WSU won, 3-2 (11/17/17, Eugene)
About Washington State: The Cougars dropped a five-set battle to East Tennessee State on Saturday for their first loss of 2018 after a 9-0 start to the season that included two wins over then-No. 17 Northern Iowa. WSU leads the Pac-12 in opponent hitting percentage (.147) and is No. 2 in team hitting percentage (.286). The Cougars are led by all-Pac-12 first-team OH Taylor Mims, who is fifth in the Pac-12 in both kills (3.97) and points (4.61) per set. WSU will play No. 13 Washington on Thursday before taking on Oregon in MKA on Sunday.

NOTES
Oregon Looking to Continue Recent Dominance Vs. Beavers, Cougars
The Ducks enter this week's start of conference play looking to continue their recent dominance against both Oregon State and Washington State. UO has won six straight and 21 of the last 24 against the Beavers, sweeping last year in MKA before winning in five sets in Corvallis. WSU broke a 22-match losing streak against the Ducks in 2017, but Oregon has won 24 of the last 26 against the Cougars. UO leads the all-time series with Oregon State, 75-43-1, and owns a 54-33-1 advantage all-time over Washington State.

Ducks All Over Pac-12, NCAA Leaderboards
Ten 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
14.03 Assists/Set	1st	3rd
14.82 Kills/Set	2nd	4th
1.79 Aces/Set	2nd	18th
16.38 Digs/Set	3rd	50th
.266 Hitting Pct.	4th	29th

Name	Statistic	P12 Rank	NCAA Rank
August Raskie	12.35 Assists/Set	1st	3rd
Sumeet Gill	.414 Hitting Pct.	1st	20th
Brooke Van Sickle	0.53 Aces/Set	1st	T20th
Brooke Nuneviller	4.65 Digs/Set	4th	103rd
Ronika Stone	1.29 Blocks/Set	5th	T42nd
Ronika Stone	4.06 Points/Set	10th	116th

Raskie Thriving as Primary Setter
After splitting time in the 6-2 offense the last three years, SR S August Raskie has taken her game to a new level in 2018 as Oregon's lone setter in a 5-1 scheme. Raskie leads the Pac-12 and ranks third in the nation with 12.35 assists per set, and she has the Oregon in the top five nationally as a team in both assists per set (3rd) and kills per set (4th). Raskie owns a team-best four double-doubles, and she is one of five UO regulars averaging 2.00 digs per set or better (2.47). With 420 assists so far in 2018, Raskie has 1,863 for her career and has moved into the No. 10 spot all-time at Oregon.

Middles Running Wild in 5-1 Offense
Oregon's change to a 5-1 offense 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 20th nationally with a .414 hitting percentage while averaging 2.00 kills per set, and Stone is leading the Ducks with 4.06 points per set while hitting .347. 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, averaging 3.00 kills per set on .342 hitting.

Vander Weide Moving Up UO Record Books
Ten matches into her senior season, OH Lindsey Vander Weide is starting to move her way up the Oregon record books. With 116 points this season, Vander Weide has 1,306.5 in her career and has moved into ninth all-time at Oregon, passing Gorana Maricic (1,217.0) and Martenne Bettendorf (1,287.0). Vander Weide is only nine points shy of Neticia Enesi (1,315.5) for eighth, and only 39 behind Ariana Williams (1,345.0) for seventh. Vander Weide, who ranks 39th in the NCAA among active players with 1,114 career kills, needs 169 kills to crack the UO top 10 list, and she is only 29 digs shy of reaching 1,000 for her career in that category as well.

Ducks Wrap Nonconference With Pair of Wins at Hawai'i
The Ducks closed nonconference action last week with a pair of wins at Hawai'i, winning in straight sets on Thursday before holding on to win in five on Friday. JR MB Ronika Stone (12 K, .500, 5 B) and SR OH Lindsey Vander Weide 15 K, .375) led UO to the 25-18, 25-23, 25-22 sweep on Thursday. SR S August Raskie (50 A, 16 D, 7 K), Stone (11 K, 10 B, 8 D) and Vander Weide (14 K, 12 D, 3 SA) all notched double-doubles on Friday as the Ducks survived a furious UH comeback attempt in a 25-23, 25-10, 22-25, 23-25, 15-12 win.

Oregon Pulls Upset of No. 1 Minnesota
The Ducks picked up one of the program's biggest wins in recent memory on Sept. 8, defeating then-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.

Up Next
The Ducks will stay at home next week to host Arizona (Sept. 28) and Arizona State (Sept. 30) in Matthew Knight Arena.

Interviews - Lindsey Vander Weide, Senior Outside Hitter

Brooke Nuneviller, Freshman Libero