Ducks Fall in Five at Arizona State

Friday, October 25

Tempe, AZ

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

6-12,2-7Pac-12

Arizona State

12-8,4-5Pac-12

Oregon

Arizona St.

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

10/25/19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score ASU 3, Oregon 2 2019 Season Statistics

By: Zach Lawson

EUGENE, Ore. – For the second time in as many road matches, the University of Oregon volleyball team built a 2-0 match before dropping a five-set heartbreaker (21-25, 17-25, 25-14, 25-19, 15-12) to Arizona State Friday night in Tempe. The match marked the Ducks' sixth five setter of the season, and fourth in Pac-12 play.

How It Happened: With the first set tied at 13-all, Oregon (6-12, 2-7 Pac-12) won four of the next five points to create some separation on the scoreboard. The Ducks capped the run with a tandem block from Karson Bacon and Ronika Stone. Oregon led 22-18 after back-to-back kills from Willow Johnson and Brooke Nuneviller.

Arizona State (12-8, 4-5 Pac-12) pulled to within two with the Ducks leading 23-21 but another kill from Johnson and a lift called on the ASU setter gave UO the 1-0 match lead.

Riding the momentum of the opening set, the Ducks jumped out to a 9-3 lead in second with an ace by Stone forcing a timeout by the home team. Oregon doubled up its opponent at 14-7 with a kill by Taylor Williams and led by as many as 12 points—20-8—after an Abby Hansen kill. The Ducks' lead got down to six at 22-16 but after a pair of late Arizona State errors, UO secured the second set.

In the middle of the third set, the Sun Devils turned an 8-8 score into a 17-10 advantage with the help of five Oregon attack errors including two blocks. Arizona State built on its lead and got on the scoreboard with another block to end the set.

The home team forced a fifth set with another mid-set surge of points in the fourth. Oregon was ahead 12-11 before Arizona State reversed the flow of play for a 20-15 lead of its own, forcing a timeout from UO head coach Matt Ulmer. The lead held up and the teams were in to the first five setter in the series since 2016.

In the decisive frame, Oregon got out to a 4-0 lead and seemed headed for a 5-2 lead but an Arizona State challenge was successful to keep it to a 4-3 advantage. With the score tied at 5-all, ASU scored five of the next six points. The Ducks were down 12-8 but a three-point surge from Stone—two kills and a block with Bacon—cut the ASU lead to 12-11.

However, the Sun Devils responded with two in a row to regain momentum. Oregon saved one match point with another kill from Stone but Arizona State sealed the comeback with a kill down the line in the next rally.

Who Stood Out: Stone led all players with 14 kills and added seven digs, five blocks and a service ace. Nuneviller (11 kills, 20 digs) recorded her team-leading 11^th double-double of the season. It also marked her third match of the year with at least 20 digs. Johnson added 11 kills and now has double-digit kills in eight of nine Pac-12 matches.

Redshirt freshman Abby Hansen had season highs with eight kills and five total blocks. Freshman setter Elise Ferreira dished out a season-high 26 assists and had eight digs against the Sun Devils.

Notable: Stone becomes the eighth Oregon player during the rally-scoring era (2001-pres.) to eclipse 1,400 career points. She pushed her career total to 1,416.5 with 18 points in Friday's match. The senior captain also moved into sixth place (432) on the program's all-time total blocks list, passing the 431 total by Karen Beamer (1980-81). Stone is now also within eight of the UO career record for block assists (389 – Neticia Enesi, 2006-10).

Up Next: The Ducks continue their swing through the Grand Canyon State with a Sunday match against Arizona. First serve is scheduled for 12 p.m. (PT) on Pac-12 Oregon.