Ducks Look to Bounce Back at No. 24 WSU, No. 11 Washington

EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon volleyball team will hit the road this weekend as the Ducks continue their grueling Pac-12 schedule with showdowns against No. 24 Washington State and No. 11 Washington.

Looking to bounce back from a pair of tough home losses last weekend, Oregon (5-8, 1-3) will go to Pullman to face the Cougars at 6 p.m. on Friday before continuing on to Seattle to take on the Huskies at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

About No. 24 Washington State (13-3, 2-2)
WSU got the season off to a 12-1 start, including a win over then-No. 8 Washington, before dropping back-to-back matches to Cal and UCLA. The Cougars bounced back to beat USC in five on Sunday, and are a perfect 4-0 so far this year in Pullman. WSU boasts a balanced 6-2 offense with four starters averaging 2.00 k/s or better, and Alexis Dirige is third in the Pac-12 with 4.53 d/s. UO has won 23 of the last 24 meetings with WSU.

About No. 11 Washington (11-3, 2-2)
After opening Pac-12 play with a 3-1 loss to WSU, the Huskies handed then-No. 1 Stanford its first Pac-12 loss since 2017 with a 3-1 road win. The Huskies are led by OH Kara Bajema, who is fourth in the Pac-12 with 4.31 k/s and 5.00 p/s. Avie Niece is second in the league with 1.52 b/s, and Shayne McPherson ranks sixth with 4.02 d/s. Oregon pulled out a thrilling five-set win over the Huskies last year in Seattle.

How to Follow
Both matches this weekend will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks, and fans will be able to listen to Sunday's match in Seattle on KWVA 88.1 FM. Live stats can be found at Oregon.Statbroadcast.com, and live updates will be provided on Twitter at @OregonVB.

Rigorous Schedule Continues
A difficult schedule continues this weekend for the Ducks, who have played six of their 13 matches so far against teams ranked in the AVCA top 25, and four against top-10 opponents. After this weekend, more than half of Oregon's matches will have been against top-25 foes.

Johnson Serving Up a Storm
SR RS Willow Johnson has moved into a six-rotation role as a senior, and she has been an absolute force at the service line. Johnson leads the Pac-12 with 0.44 aces per set, and she has 10 aces in her last four matches. Johnson was stellar in UO's five-set win over No. 18 Utah on Sept. 29, racking up a career-high five aces.

Stone Joins 1,000 Kill Club, Closing in on All-Time Block Assist Record
SR MB Ronika Stone has a chance to etch her name at the top of multiple UO all-time lists before her career ends, and the 2018 second-team all-American reached an impressive milestone earlier this season on the East Coast. Stone surpassed the 1,000 career kills mark on Sept. 10 with a match-high 17 on .615 hitting against Hofstra, and she enters this weekend's matches with 1,051 kills on only 2,152 career attacks. Stone's current .358 career hitting percentage wouuld shatter Sue Harbour's program record of .333, and the San Jose, Calif., native also ranks eighth in Oregon history with 1,356.5 career points scored. Stone is currently second all-time at UO with 369 career block assists, just 20 behind all-time leader Neticia Enesi (389, 2006-10), and she is also seventh with 418 total blocks, sitting 124 behind Harbour's program record of 542. So far in 2019, Stone is leading the Ducks with 3.28 k/s and 3.95 p/s while hitting at a .359 clip, sixth best in the Pac-12.

Robinson Running the Show as RS Freshman
RFR S Kylie Robinson has taken over as Oregon's starting setter after sitting out last year as a true freshman, and she ranks third in the Pac-12 so far this season with 10.84 a/s. Robinson has been named the Pac-12 freshman of the week twice already this season, and she is tied for second on the team with 11 service aces.

Nuneviller Embracing New Role
SO OH Brooke Nuneviller was one of the nation's top liberos as a freshman in 2018, but the Chandler, Ariz., native has moved to outside hitter as a sophomore and is really beginning to thrive in her new role. Nuneviller leads the Ducks with eight double-doubles while averaging 3.24 k/s (.231) and a team-best 3.14 d/s, and she posted three straight matches with 15 or more kills while hitting better than .315 in the final week of UO's East Coast road trip. Nuneviller took over and willed the Ducks to a five-set comeback road win over Princeton on Sept. 17 with a career-high 19 kills on .389 hitting, including an astounding 13 in the final two sets, and she racked up a season-high 22 digs last Friday against No. 3 Stanford.

Murphy Thriving at Libero as True Freshman
With Nuneviller now playing on the outside, FR L Georgia Murphy moved immediately into the starting libero role and hasn't looked back. Murphy is second on the team with 2.96 d/s and has recorded 13 or more digs seven different times, including a season-high 19 in UO's Pac-12 opener at OSU. Murphy has also been a threat at the service line with 10 aces so far, including a season-high five on Sept. 20 against Duke

Up Next
Oregon will return home next week to host UCLA and USC in Matthew Knight Arena.