Ducks Show Resolve In Defeat

Sunday, November 10

Eugene, OR

12:00 PM

University of Oregon

7-16,3-11Pac-12

Washington State

21-5,10-4Pac-12

Washington St.

Oregon

Photo by: Brielle Moseley/GoDucks.com

11/10/19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score 2019 Oregon VB Season Statistics

Senior Ronika Stone nearly had a triple-double as the Oregon volleyball team fought all afternoon Sunday before dropping a match to WSU.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — Senior Ronika Stone put the Oregon volleyball team on her back Sunday afternoon, and nearly carried the Ducks all the way to victory before Washington State hung on for a 25-20, 25-15, 16-25, 26-24 victory at Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks (7-16, 3-11 Pac-12) fought off match point five times, and Stone had four kills during that run. The Cougars eventually pulled it out, despite Stone finishing with 19 kills on a career-high 56 attacks, plus 15 digs and eight blocks.

"How good was she?" UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "She did everything she could do. I think she was phenomenal."

How It Happened: Coming off an encouraging match Thursday against Washington, redshirt freshman middle blocker Karson Bacon got the Ducks off to a solid start Sunday. She had a kill and a block for the first two points of the match, and Stone made it 3-0 with her first kill of the day. Minutes later, Stone had two digs to keep a point alive, and Abby Hansen finished it off after a one-handed set by Elise Ferreira, putting the Ducks up 7-4. A block by Bacon put Oregon back up three at 10-7, and Willow Johnson had a kill for an 11-8 lead. But momentum started to swing at that point; WSU scored four straight at one point to take a 15-13 lead. An ace by Johnson regained the lead for Oregon at 16-15, but the Cougars scored another four in a row and maintained the lead to win set one.

Washington State took command of the second set with a five-point run to lead 13-10. The Ducks fought back and were within two at 14-12, but from there the Cougars scored seven straight points. Oregon's fighting spirit never faltered — with the Ducks down 23-14, Brooke Nuneviller deflected two different crazy caroms over the net to keep alive a point Oregon eventually won on a block by Stone and Bacon. But the WSU lead was commanding, and the Cougars took a two-set lead.

The third set saw Oregon's never-say-die attitude rewarded. The Ducks stormed out to a 6-1 lead, and were up 9-4 after a kill by Nuneviller. The Cougars got within 10-7, but a kill by Stone regained momentum as Oregon began a run of six points in a row. The Ducks were able to side out in some key spots, regaining serve on a block by Stone and Bacon that made it 17-9, and again on a kill by Stone for an 18-10 lead. The Ducks' last two points of the set were emphatic kills by Stone, keeping the match alive into a fourth set.

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"The third set is really what we're capable of," Ulmer said. "We're just not sustaining that level of focus and discipline long enough. From a coaching perspective, that's very frustrating. But it definitely shows where we can be and what our talent can do in the future."

The fourth set was tight much of the way. Washington State gained some cushion to go up 12-10, but a kill by Stone and a block by Stone and Hansen tied the set 12-12, before another kill by Stone tied it again, 13-13. From there, the Cougars scored seven in a row to lead 20-13, but the Ducks still kept swinging away. A quick set to Bacon was put the floor by Bacon to make it 22-17, and the young middle blocker had another kill to get Oregon within 23-18. Washington State's first match point was at 24-19, but Stone had a kill to regain serve for the Ducks. A block by Bacon and three more kills by Stone extended the match — she had at least three swings on the point that got Oregon within 24-22 — but WSU regained serve up 25-24, and an Oregon error ended the match.

Who Stood Out: Stone finished with her fourth career double-double, and the first of her career that included digs. She became the seventh UO player in the rally scoring era (since 2001) to reach 1,500 career points; now at 1,503.5 for her career, she is seventh in school history.

Nuneviller had nine kills with 24 digs, and Georgia Murphy added 13 digs; that tandem handled the bulk of Oregon's passing throughout the match. Ferreira had 42 assists, as the Ducks played a second match without her fellow setter Kylie Robinson. Bacon wrapped up a strong weekend, with six kills and nine blocks. Johnson and Hansen had eight kills each.

What It Means: The Ducks have three weekends left in the 2019 season, to celebrate this senior class and set a foundation for next fall.

"You give the seniors their chance to do everything that they do, and our young kids just need to continue to grow," Ulmer said. "You know, for us, it's, it's always business as usual. And that's what I've been preaching is that, can we just play this point like it's any other point? And I thought we did a pretty good job of that tonight — in spurts."

Up Next: The Ducks remain at home next weekend, beginning against Arizona on Friday (7 p.m., Pac-12 Network).