Ducks Impress in Green-Yellow Scrimmage
08/24/19 | Women's Volleyball
EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 11 ranked Oregon volleyball team put on a show for a couple hundred Duck fans on Saturday night at Matthew Knight Arena in the team's annual Green-Yellow scrimmage, the first and final live tune-up before next Friday's season opener.
The match officially ended in a 2-2 tie, though head coach Matt Ulmer experimented with different combinations and rotations on both sides.
"I was actually really pleased with tonight," said Ulmer. "That was the first time we really went live, and we are very, very young. We have seven true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen, so 10 players that have never played a real point in front of a crowd in a Ducks uniform.
"They are very talented, highly talented. But you just never know until they get out there who can compete and who's going to compete hard, or what you're going to get. So I was really pleased with a lot of people."
How it Happened: Returning all-Americans Ronika Stone and Brooke Nuneviller and freshman libero Georgia Murphy were mainstays on Yellow while alumnae Taylor Agost and Sonja Newcombe stayed with Green, but the rest of Ulmer's squad spent time playing for both squads.
Yellow opened the night with a 25-22 win in set one behind a great set from senior all-American Willow Johnson (below), who put down six kills on seven swings. Redshirt freshman Karson Bacon also impressed for Green with six kills and a pair of blocks.
Green responded in set two with a tight 26-24 win, with freshman Jade Sadeiko finishing off the set with a kill. Redshirt freshman Abby Hansen closed the set with six kills and freshman Taylor Williams was perfect on five swings to lead the way for Green, and Bacon shined again for Yellow with five kills on six swings.
Nuneviller helped Yellow to a 25-23 win in set three with five kills, and Stone added four kills as she prepares for her senior season. Agost led the way for Green with six kills.
Johnson got things going again in the fourth set with five kills for Yellow and freshman Morgan Lewis added four, but the combination of Agost and Hansen, who both had six kills in the set, was too much as Green won, 25-23, to end the match in a tie.
Who Stood Out: Johnson was terrific all night, finishing with 15 kills on .480 hitting and a pair of aces. Bacon (below) matched Johnson's 15 kills and added five blocks in an impressive performance, and Stone finished with 11 kills and two aces. Nuneviller, transitioning from libero to outside hitter as a sophomore, put down eight kills and added 13 digs and two aces, and Hansen recorded 14 kills. Williams (12 kills) and Lewis (7 kills) showcased the talents that made them such highly-ranked recruits, and setters Kylie Robinson and Elise Ferreira finished with 48 and 43 assists, respectively. Murphy shined in the back row with a match-high 16 digs, and fellow freshman Bea Wetton added 13 digs.
When asked who stood out to him in the match, Ulmer pointed out Sadeiko, who finished with 11 kills after arriving in Eugene just a couple weeks ago from Estonia.
"She has only been in the country now for about 10 days, but she has just come along every day," said Ulmer. "She had to get over jet lag first and go through the time change, and then eating our food, making new friends and living here. But, she has just done a really nice job and it was exciting to see what she was able to do tonight."
Up Next: The Ducks will kick off the 2019 season in the Oregon Classic on Friday at 7 p.m. against UC Irvine in MKA before taking on Boston College at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Oregon State will round out the four-team tournament.
The match officially ended in a 2-2 tie, though head coach Matt Ulmer experimented with different combinations and rotations on both sides.
"I was actually really pleased with tonight," said Ulmer. "That was the first time we really went live, and we are very, very young. We have seven true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen, so 10 players that have never played a real point in front of a crowd in a Ducks uniform.
"They are very talented, highly talented. But you just never know until they get out there who can compete and who's going to compete hard, or what you're going to get. So I was really pleased with a lot of people."
How it Happened: Returning all-Americans Ronika Stone and Brooke Nuneviller and freshman libero Georgia Murphy were mainstays on Yellow while alumnae Taylor Agost and Sonja Newcombe stayed with Green, but the rest of Ulmer's squad spent time playing for both squads.
Yellow opened the night with a 25-22 win in set one behind a great set from senior all-American Willow Johnson (below), who put down six kills on seven swings. Redshirt freshman Karson Bacon also impressed for Green with six kills and a pair of blocks.
Green responded in set two with a tight 26-24 win, with freshman Jade Sadeiko finishing off the set with a kill. Redshirt freshman Abby Hansen closed the set with six kills and freshman Taylor Williams was perfect on five swings to lead the way for Green, and Bacon shined again for Yellow with five kills on six swings.
Nuneviller helped Yellow to a 25-23 win in set three with five kills, and Stone added four kills as she prepares for her senior season. Agost led the way for Green with six kills.
Johnson got things going again in the fourth set with five kills for Yellow and freshman Morgan Lewis added four, but the combination of Agost and Hansen, who both had six kills in the set, was too much as Green won, 25-23, to end the match in a tie.
Who Stood Out: Johnson was terrific all night, finishing with 15 kills on .480 hitting and a pair of aces. Bacon (below) matched Johnson's 15 kills and added five blocks in an impressive performance, and Stone finished with 11 kills and two aces. Nuneviller, transitioning from libero to outside hitter as a sophomore, put down eight kills and added 13 digs and two aces, and Hansen recorded 14 kills. Williams (12 kills) and Lewis (7 kills) showcased the talents that made them such highly-ranked recruits, and setters Kylie Robinson and Elise Ferreira finished with 48 and 43 assists, respectively. Murphy shined in the back row with a match-high 16 digs, and fellow freshman Bea Wetton added 13 digs.
When asked who stood out to him in the match, Ulmer pointed out Sadeiko, who finished with 11 kills after arriving in Eugene just a couple weeks ago from Estonia.
"She has only been in the country now for about 10 days, but she has just come along every day," said Ulmer. "She had to get over jet lag first and go through the time change, and then eating our food, making new friends and living here. But, she has just done a really nice job and it was exciting to see what she was able to do tonight."
Up Next: The Ducks will kick off the 2019 season in the Oregon Classic on Friday at 7 p.m. against UC Irvine in MKA before taking on Boston College at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Oregon State will round out the four-team tournament.
Players Mentioned
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
RS
/ Women's Volleyball
MB/RS
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
OH/L
/ Women's Volleyball
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/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's Volleyball
DS
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
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