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Balanced Attack, Better Tempo Fuel Civil War Volleyball Victory
09/20/18 | Women's Volleyball
The No. 12 Ducks beat Oregon State in four sets Thursday, 25-12, 23-25, 25-14, 25-15.
EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 12 Oregon volleyball team used one of its more well-rounded performances of the season to open this fall's Pac-12 schedule with a four-set victory Thursday over Oregon State before 4,589 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.
The Ducks (8-3, 1-0 Pac-12) got 14 kills from Lindsey Vander Weide, 13 from Ronika Stone and 12 from Lauren Page to beat the Beavers, 25-12, 23-25, 25-14, 25-15. "This past week we really worked on increasing the tempo of our offense, playing a little bit faster," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "… This was faster for us tonight than it had been. That just stresses their defense even more."
How It Happened: Oregon raced out of the starting blocks, taking an early 4-1 lead in the opening set thanks to two early kills by Stone. The Beavers (10-3, 0-1) surged into the lead, at 8-7, and still led by a point at 9-8 when the Ducks exploded with eight straight points. After a couple of sideouts, the Ducks scored another four in a row for a 13-2 run overall, on the way to winning 25-12.

There were no such fireworks for the Ducks in set two. It went back and forth the entire way, with the Beavers pulling out the set, 25-23. To Ulmer, the set had shades of last Friday's win at Hawaii, in which Oregon jumped out to a two-set lead before giving two back and having to hold on to win in five. "We start to feel comfortable in our play, and we need to keep the same mindset the whole time," Vander Weide said. "We just need to work on keeping that mindset through the whole match."
Unlike in Hawaii, the Ducks only gave away one set Thursday before rallying themselves. They scored four straight for an early 5-1 lead, and after OSU closed within 11-9, Stone provided a crucial sideout that sparked the Ducks. They scored the next four points while holding serve, then scored five in a row to go up 24-13 and ultimately won 25-14.
Stone provided timely points in the fourth set as well. Her kill capped another fast start to a 4-1 lead, and a laser off her right hand provided a sideout and sparked a run of four straight UO points to a 10-3 lead. The Beavers were within 14-10 when Stone's solo block provided yet another sideout, and the Ducks scored the last five points of the set to win, 25-15.

Who Stood Out: Ulmer credited senior setter August Raskie with helping the Ducks play with increased tempo, and with spreading the ball around to produce the balanced offensive attack. Page hit .500, Stone hit .480 and Sumeet Gill hit .455 on her way to six kills. Willow Johnson added eight kills and Raskie had five herself, along with dishing out 50 assists. Vander Weide finished with 15 digs for a double-double.
What It Means: The Ducks beat their Civil War rivals for the seventh straight meeting, Oregon's 22nd win in its last 25 matches against Oregon State. The Ducks put a similar run of success on the line Sunday, having won 24 of 26 over Washington State.

Notable: After performing so well in nonconference play, freshmen Brooke Nuneviller and Camryn Tastad showed some nerves in their Pac-12 debut, Ulmer said. But they also settled down over the course of the match, a key to Oregon's rebound from the second-set loss, he added. … Oregon is now 5-0 at home, 8-0 when winning the first set, 8-0 when leading in attack percentage and 7-0 when holding its opponent under .200 hitting … Vander Weide notched her fourth double-double to tie for the team lead … Nuneviller recorded 20 digs in a match for the second time this season.
Up Next: The Ducks continue their four-match homestand by hosting Washington State on Sunday (noon, Pac-12 Network).
The Ducks (8-3, 1-0 Pac-12) got 14 kills from Lindsey Vander Weide, 13 from Ronika Stone and 12 from Lauren Page to beat the Beavers, 25-12, 23-25, 25-14, 25-15. "This past week we really worked on increasing the tempo of our offense, playing a little bit faster," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "… This was faster for us tonight than it had been. That just stresses their defense even more."
How It Happened: Oregon raced out of the starting blocks, taking an early 4-1 lead in the opening set thanks to two early kills by Stone. The Beavers (10-3, 0-1) surged into the lead, at 8-7, and still led by a point at 9-8 when the Ducks exploded with eight straight points. After a couple of sideouts, the Ducks scored another four in a row for a 13-2 run overall, on the way to winning 25-12.
There were no such fireworks for the Ducks in set two. It went back and forth the entire way, with the Beavers pulling out the set, 25-23. To Ulmer, the set had shades of last Friday's win at Hawaii, in which Oregon jumped out to a two-set lead before giving two back and having to hold on to win in five. "We start to feel comfortable in our play, and we need to keep the same mindset the whole time," Vander Weide said. "We just need to work on keeping that mindset through the whole match."
Unlike in Hawaii, the Ducks only gave away one set Thursday before rallying themselves. They scored four straight for an early 5-1 lead, and after OSU closed within 11-9, Stone provided a crucial sideout that sparked the Ducks. They scored the next four points while holding serve, then scored five in a row to go up 24-13 and ultimately won 25-14.
Stone provided timely points in the fourth set as well. Her kill capped another fast start to a 4-1 lead, and a laser off her right hand provided a sideout and sparked a run of four straight UO points to a 10-3 lead. The Beavers were within 14-10 when Stone's solo block provided yet another sideout, and the Ducks scored the last five points of the set to win, 25-15.
Who Stood Out: Ulmer credited senior setter August Raskie with helping the Ducks play with increased tempo, and with spreading the ball around to produce the balanced offensive attack. Page hit .500, Stone hit .480 and Sumeet Gill hit .455 on her way to six kills. Willow Johnson added eight kills and Raskie had five herself, along with dishing out 50 assists. Vander Weide finished with 15 digs for a double-double.
What It Means: The Ducks beat their Civil War rivals for the seventh straight meeting, Oregon's 22nd win in its last 25 matches against Oregon State. The Ducks put a similar run of success on the line Sunday, having won 24 of 26 over Washington State.
Notable: After performing so well in nonconference play, freshmen Brooke Nuneviller and Camryn Tastad showed some nerves in their Pac-12 debut, Ulmer said. But they also settled down over the course of the match, a key to Oregon's rebound from the second-set loss, he added. … Oregon is now 5-0 at home, 8-0 when winning the first set, 8-0 when leading in attack percentage and 7-0 when holding its opponent under .200 hitting … Vander Weide notched her fourth double-double to tie for the team lead … Nuneviller recorded 20 digs in a match for the second time this season.
Up Next: The Ducks continue their four-match homestand by hosting Washington State on Sunday (noon, Pac-12 Network).
Team Stats
OSU
ORE
Kills
45
61
Errors
24
10
Attempts
150
141
Hitting %
.140
.362
Points
52.0
76.0
Assists
44
59
Aces
4
6
Blocks
3.0
9.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Players Mentioned
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