Ducks Take Opening Set Before Dropping Match To No. 3 Stanford

Friday, October 4

Eugene, OR

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

5-7, 1-2

Stanford

8-3, 2-1

Stanford

Oregon

Photo by: Samuel Marshall/Eric Evans Photography

Ducks Take Opening Set Before Dropping Match To No. 3 Stanford

10/04/19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Oregon grabbed momentum in the early going Friday before losing in four sets to the Cardinal at home.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 25 Oregon volleyball team won the opening set against No. 3 Stanford, but the Cardinal grabbed hold of momentum and held on for a 21-25, 25-11, 25-19, 25-19 victory before 3,263 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.

The Cardinal played without two-time national player of the year Kathryn Plummer, and the Ducks (5-7, 1-2 Pac-12) took advantage early on. But Stanford tipped the scales in the second set and held on to improve to 8-3, 2-1.

How It Happened: Brooke Nuneviller came out on fire, recording six kills as the Ducks won the opening set. She put a ball to the middle of the floor that sparked a 3-0 run by the Ducks into a 3-1 lead, and her kill down the line made it 4-2. A Stanford service error put Oregon up 8-5, but the Cardinal rallied for five straight points to take the lead. Nuneviller came through with two straight kills to stabilize the Ducks, and yet another to cap a 5-0 run to a 13-10 lead. Stanford rallied once more to tie the set, 15-15, but Ronika Stone and Kylie Robinson combined on a block to give Oregon the lead for good, and a kill by Willow Johnson set up set point before a Stanford error ended it.

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"Fight is never our issue," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "I think we play really tough, we get after it, our energy is good. I thought our discipline was good; we stuck to our game plan well. Our servers were pretty aggressive in the first set, and that caused some problems for them. And then we backed off. They got more aggressive, and we didn't respond well."

The second set was a complete reversal of fortunes for Oregon. The Ducks immediately fell behind 4-0, made a substitution at setter down 9-3, and were lucky to crack double-digit points in the set. Stanford hit .357 as a team in the second, while the Ducks had five kills and six errors on their 33 total attacks.

The Ducks were quickly in a hole again to open the third set, 3-1, before tying it 5-5 on a Stone kill followed by a Stanford error. But the Cardinal pushed into an 8-5 lead, and used more surges to go up 11-6 and 14-8. It was 18-10 was the Ducks mounted a rally, on a tip by Nuneviller, an ace by Nuneviller and a kill by Stone. The Ducks stayed within shouting distance and stayed alive at 23-19 on yet another kill by Nuneviller, but Stanford finished it off to go up a set.

"Personally I can feel when our team is kind of drifting apart and not staying together," Nuneviller said. "That's one of the biggest problems we have. We're so talented, but one point turns into four for the other team."

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Oregon was more competitive early in set four, going up 3-2 on a Stone kill and then 7-6 when Johnson tooled a ball off the block. The Ducks appeared to take a 9-7 lead on a Nuneviller kill that was tipped, but a Stanford challenge led to the call being reversed, sparking a 5-0 run for the Cardinal to a 12-8 lead. Stone had the first and fourth kills in a 4-0 run by the Ducks to tie it, and she tied the set again at 13-13. But Stanford took control at 16-13, pushed the lead to 22-16 and finished off the set and the match.

Who Stood Out: Nuneviller led the Ducks with 15 kills and 22 digs, and Johnson and Stone had 12 kills apiece. Bea Wetton and Georgia Murphy each had 13 digs.

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Notable: Stone raised her career points total to 1,351.0, moving her past Ariana Williams (1,345.0, 2010-13) for No. 8 in Oregon history. … Nuneviller's season-high 22 digs are the most by a Duck this season. … Nuneviller notched her team-leading eighth double-double of the season.

Up Next: The Ducks wrap up their three-match homestand by hosting California on Sunday at 1 p.m.