Stone Breaks Blocks Record at Stanford

Sunday, November 3

Stanford, CA

2:00 PM

University of Oregon

7-14, 3-9Pac-12

Stanford

16-4, 10-2Pac-12

Oregon

Stanford

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

11/03/19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score | Stanford 3, Oregon 0

By: Zach Lawson

EUGENE, Ore. – The Oregon volleyball team fought off a pair of match points and had two set points of its own in the third before fifth-ranked Stanford closed out a 3-0 (25-18, 25-12, 28-26) on its home floor. In the loss, senior Ronika Stone became the Ducks' career leader in block assists while Willow Johnson and Brooke Nuneviller paced the offense with 11 kills each.

With Sunday's outing, Stone now has 390 block assists in her career which is one more than previous UO all-time leader Neticia Enesi (389/2006-10). Stone finished the night with a team-high three total blocks.

How It Happened: Oregon (7-14, 3-9 Pac-12) went out to an early 5-2 lead in the first set but the home team pulled even and then scored six of the next eight points to go ahead 12-8 to force a UO timeout. Stanford (16-4, 10-2 Pac-12) went on to build a 21-14 advantage with a service ace. Stanford rode the advantage through the remainder of the set and led the match, 1-0.

Nuneviller powered the Oregon offense early on with six kills on 10 swings—and no errors—in the first set. With 11 kills in the match, she reached double figures for the 14^th time this year and for the eighth time in Pac-12 play.

After a lop-sided second frame in Stanford's favor, the Ducks took an 8-6 lead in the third set after a pair of Cardinal attack errors and kill by Johnson. Stanford pushed ahead and led 15-13 at the media timeout but stayed within one or two points until the Cardinal took a 20-17 advantage. Head coach Matt Ulmer called timeout when Stanford extended its lead to four at 22-18.

Out of the timeout, the Ducks scored three in a row including two from Abby Hansen who teamed up with Williams for a block and then delivered a service ace to get Oregon within one. With the Cardinal leading 24-22, the Ducks turned to Stone who came through with three-consecutive kills to erase the match points and give UO a 25-24 lead.

Stanford tied the score at 25-all but Stone delivered another kill on the slide attack for another set point for the Ducks. However, the home team rattled off the next three points to secure the match. The third set featured nine ties and four lead changes.

Who Stood Out: Six of Stone's nine kills came in the third set. The San Jose native hit .600 (6-0-10) in the final frame Sunday. With her 11 kills, Johnson reached doubles figures for the 13^th time this season and for the 10^th time in 12 Pac-12 play. Nuneviller led the team with nine digs, one shy of a would-be double-double.

Notable: On the record-breaking block, Stone teamed with freshman Karson Bacon to turn away Natalie Berty to bring the Ducks to within two—Stanford led 16-14—in the third set. Stone and Nuneviller both surpassed 250 kills for the season in Sunday's match. During the weekend road trip, Stone averaged 3.71 kills per set to go along with a .400 hitting percentage.

Up Next: Oregon returns to its home floor Thurs., Nov. 7 to host No. 12 Washington. First serve is set for 8 p.m. (PT) at Matthew Knight Arena. The Ducks will play their next four matches at home.