Veterans Lead Ducks to Season Opening Sweep

Friday, August 30

Eugene, OR

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

1-0

UC Irvine

0-2

UC Irvine

Oregon

Photo by: Samuel Marshall

08/30/19 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box: Oregon 3, UC Irvine 0

By: Nate Krueger

EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 11 ranked Oregon volleyball team opened its 2019 season in dominant fashion on Friday night with a 25-13, 25-16, 25-13 sweep over UC Irvine in front of 1,275 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.

The Ducks (1-0) were led by the all-American trio of Willow Johnson, Ronika Stone and Brooke Nuneviller, who combined for 30 of Oregon's 39 kills without committing an attack error. UO hit a whopping .507 as a team, the program's best team hitting percentage in a match since 2012.

"I was happy with a lot of things," said Ulmer. "There were a lot of really good team plays, which you don't usually see on opening night. Especially the older players – which there's only a couple – I thought they looked very sharp.

"I was actually really excited for today just as a volleyball fan because I wanted to see what we would be like and how people would react, and I was very impressed."

Highlights from the Ducks' season-opening sweep of UC Irvine ?? #GoDucks pic.twitter.com/GZXzappFeJ
— Oregon Volleyball (@OregonVB) August 31, 2019

How it Happened: Johnson, Stone and Nuneviller got Oregon going right from the opening serve, putting down three consecutive kills to fuel the Ducks to a quick 5-0 lead. After UC Irvine closed within 11-7, Nuneviller put down another kill to ignite a 10-3 run that included two kills and an ace by Stone. The Ducks ran away with the rest of the set, with Stone finishing the opening game of her senior season with five kills on six swings.

The Anteaters (0-2) stayed close with the Ducks through the first half of the second set, but Johnson and the Ducks were too much the rest of the way. With Oregon up 13-11, the left-hander found the floor with a crosscourt kill to jumpstart another 10-3 run by the Ducks, and the senior put down her fifth kill of the frame down the stretch as UO took a 2-0 lead into intermission.

UC Irvine scored the first two points out of intermission, but it was all Oregon after that. Johnson and Nuneviller evened the score with back-to-back kills, and freshman Taylor Williams put down a kill to open a 9-1 Oregon run that gave the Ducks a commanding 16-7 lead. Leading 23-13, Johnson made it match-point with her 12th kill of the night, and setter Kylie Robinson followed with an ace to secure the season-opening sweep for the Ducks.

Who Stood Out: Johnson led all players with 12 kills on .571 hitting, and Stone found the floor 10 times on only 13 swings to finish with a career-high .769 hitting percentage. Nuneviller was terrific in her first match as an outside after playing libero as a freshman, putting down eight kills while hitting .444.

Williams finished with four kills, redshirt freshman Karson Bacon was perfect on three swings and Robinson put down two while dishing out 29 assists. Freshman Bea Wetton notched two of seven aces for the Ducks, with Johnson, Nuneviller, Stone, Robinson and libero Georgia Murphy each adding one. Stone also contributed on three of UO's seven blocks while holding UC Irvine to just a .123 hitting percentage.

Notable: The last time Oregon hit .500 or better in a match as a team was Sept. 1, 2012, against Kentucky … With four block assists, Stone is now alone in second in UO history with 336 in her career … Stone is also now tied for seventh all-time at Oregon with 378 career total blocks … UO improved to 3-1 all-time vs. UC Irvine with its third straight win over the Anteaters, and first since 2008.

Up Next: The Ducks will wrap up opening weekend and the Oregon Classic on Saturday at 6 p.m. against Boston College. The Golden Eagles will face off with UC Irvine earlier in the day at 11 a.m.