Ducks Upset No. 20 Cal in Berkeley

Friday, November 1

Berkeley, CA

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

7-13,3-8Pac-12

California

17-4,7-4Pac-12

Oregon

California

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

11/01/19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score | Oregon 3, Cal 1

By: Zach Lawson

EUGENE, Ore. – On the strength of a sizzling .364 hitting percentage and three Ducks in double figures, the University of Oregon volleyball team upset No. 20 Cal Friday night at Haas Pavilion. Ronika Stone led all players with 17 kills followed closely by Brooke Nuneviller with 14 and Abby Hansen with a season-high 13 kills.

The trio accounted for 44 of the Ducks' 64 kills and registered a combined .443 hitting percentage. The win is Oregon's sixth straight on the Bears' home floor and gives the team its second win over a ranked opponent during Pac-12 play.

How It Happened: After dropping the opener, the Ducks jumped out to a 5-1 advantage in the second after a kill by Nuneviller and setting miscue called on Cal (17-4, 7-4 Pac-12). Oregon maintained its four-point lead at 15-11 with back-to-back kills by Hansen. The Ducks never trailed in the set but Cal pulled to within one at 17-16.

Oregon (7-13, 3-8 Pac-12) responded with three in a row to re-establish momentum and take the 20-16 lead. On the team's second set point, setter Kylie Robinson went over on two, found an open spot in the Cal defense and tied the match.

The third set was tied at 15-all when the home team rattled off seven of the next nine points for a 22-17 lead. From that point, however, it was all Ducks. Oregon started a run with a Robinson kill sandwiched between two kills from Morgan Lewis. Consecutive kills by Stone brought the team to its first of three set points at 24-23. Another putaway by Stone gave Oregon its third set point. An attack error by Cal ended the next rally and the Ducks led the match, 2-1.

At 6-5 in the fourth, Oregon won five of the next six points to pull away from the Bears. The lead grew as large as nine points—20-11—before Cal started to chip away, getting the UO advantage down to 21-19 which forced a second timeout from head coach Matt Ulmer. The Ducks came out of the timeout and put down three in a row—one each from Stone, Nuneviller and Karson Bacon—to set up match point.

A tough serve by Bea Wetton results in a free ball back to the Ducks. Off a pass from Stone, freshman setter Elise Ferreira got the ball back to Stone on a slide for the match-winning kill.

Both offenses were putting up big numbers Friday but the Oregon defense held Cal to a .095 efficiency in the close-out set.

Who Stood Out: Stone has 50 kills over the past three road matches, and is now within one of Neticia Enesi (2006-10) atop the program's career block assists list. Nuneviller recorded her team-leading 12^th double-double Friday night, adding a match-high 19 digs to her 14 kills. Hansen reached double digits for the first time this season and led all players with five total blocks.

Notable: For the third time this season, Wetton served up three aces in a match. She did so previously in matches at Princeton (Sept. 17) and Oregon State (Sept. 26). She and fellow freshman Georgia Murphy picked up 11 and 16 digs, respectively.

Up Next: The Ducks close out the weekend with a road match at No. 5 Stanford. First serve is scheduled for 2 p.m. (PT) on the Pac-12 Networks. Oregon's next home match is Friday, Nov. 7 against Washington.