East Coast Trip Begins With Three Top-10 Foes

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 10 ranked Oregon volleyball team will kick off a two-week East Coast trip with a trio of matches against top-10 opponents, beginning Wednesday with a nationally televised match at No. 6 Pittsburgh. The Ducks (2-0) will then head to University Park to take on No. 8 Minnesota and No. 4 Penn State on Friday and Saturday in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge.

"We're really excited to go play against some really top competition in hostile environments," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "I'm sure Pittsburgh and Penn State will be sold out or close to it, and all three of those teams are ranked in the top 10 along with us. So this week is really important for us to just continue to learn and grow and see what we have."

How to Follow
Oregon's match at Pittsburgh on Wednesday will be nationally televised on ESPNU, while the Ducks' contests against Minnesota and Penn State will be live on BTN+. Live stats for all matches can be found on the volleyball schedule on GoDucks.com.

Robinson Named First Pac-12 Freshman of the Week
RFR S Kylie Robinson was stellar in her first two collegiate matches, earning Pac-12 freshman of the week honors after racking up 69 total assists, 13 digs, five kills and three aces. Robinson was near flawless in the season opener vs. UC Irvine, directing the Ducks to a whopping .507 team hitting percentage, the program's best mark since 2012.

Ducks Roll to 2-0 Start
The Ducks put on a show in their first two matches of 2019 on Aug. 30-31 at Matthew Knight Arena, rolling past UC Irvine and Boston College in back-to-back sweeps. The all-American trio of SR RS Willow Johnson, SR MB Ronika Stone and SO OH Brooke Nuneviller led the way all weekend, with Johnson (4.33 k/s, .581) earning tournament MVP honors and Stone (3.83 k/s, .541), Nuneviller (2.83 k/s, .304) and Robinson joining her on the all-tournament team. Stone hit a career-high .769 with 10 kills against UC Irvine, and Johnson recorded her second career double-double with 14 kills (.591) and 11 digs vs. Boston College.

Oregon Enters AVCA Top 10
Oregon moved up two spots to No. 9 in Week 1 of AVCA coaches poll, the program's highest regular-season ranking since 2017, before moving back one spot to No. 10 on Monday after an idle weekend. UO ended 2018 at No. 9 after its thrilling run to the NCAA Elite Eight and opened 2019 at No. 11.

About No. 6 Pittsburgh (6-0)
The Panthers are off to a 6-0 start in 2019 after reaching the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. Pitt has yet to lose a set in six matches so far this season, and the Panthers boast a balanced offense with five players averaging 2.00 K/S or better, led by JR OH Kayla Lund (3.22 K/S, .465). The Ducks and Panthers have faced off just one time before, an Oregon win back in 1978.

About No. 8 Minnesota (2-2)
It's been a mixed back so far for the Gophers, with sweeps over North Carolina and No. 7 Florida but also straight-set losses to Florida State and No. 3 Texas. All-American Stephanie Samedy leads the offense with 4.92 K/S, and three more Gophers are averaging more than 2.25 K/S. Friday's match will be a rematch of the thrilling 2018 Sweet Sixteen showdown; Oregon beat Minnesota twice in 2018, both in four sets.

About No. 4 Penn State (5-0)
The Nittany Lions have picked up straight-set wins over Hofstra, Holy Cross, Wichita State, Iowa State and LSU to open 2019 after falling to Stanford in the second round of the 2018 NCAA Touranment. Serena Gray and Kaitlyn Hord are both averaging 3.27 K/S to pace the offense, and Hord leads the way defensively with 1.27 B/S. Oregon fell to PSU in straight sets last season to even the all-time series (2-2).

Stone Chasing All-Time Records
SR MB Ronika Stone has a chance to etch her name at the top of multiple UO all-time lists as a senior. The all-American is currently tsecond in Oregon history with 338 career block assists, just 51 behind all-time leader Neticia Enesi (389, 2006-10). Stone also ranks seventh all-time with 382 total blocks, sitting 160 blocks behind all-time great Sue Harbour (542, 1981-85). The San Jose, Calif., native is also going after Harbour's career attack percentage record of .333 - Stone currently sits at a whopping .361 mark for her career - and she is just 90 kills away from reaching 1,000 in her career.

Oregon Set For Rigorous 2019 Schedule
The path back to the Elite Eight and beyond will not be an easy one for the Ducks, who have 13 matches on their schedule against teams ranked in the AVCA preseason coaches poll, and four more against teams receiving votes. Oregon will face a trio of top-10 teams on its first road trip, going to Pennsylvania to take on No. 6 Pittsburgh before playing No. 8 Minnesota and No. 4 Penn State at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge on Sept. 13-14. Oregon beat Minnesota twice in 2018, once when the Gophers were ranked No. 1 and again in the epic NCAA Sweet Sixteen showdown in Minneapolis.

Stone, Johnson, Nuneviller Lead Ducks in 2019
The Ducks return three AVCA all-Americans for the first time in program history in 2019, giving Oregon a solid core to a build a young, talented roster around. SR MB Ronika Stone was a second-team all-American and one of the nation's top middles as a junior in 2018, averaging career-highs of 3.87 points, 3.02 kills and 1.19 blocks per set while hitting a team-high .342. SR RS Willow Johnson also enjoyed a breakout year while earning all-America honorable mention status, hitting .312 while averaging a career-high 2.76 kills per set. SO OH/L Brooke Nuneviller was stellar as the Ducks' libero as a freshman, racking up the third-most digs (580) in UO single-season history while earning all-America honorable mention, and she will take on an even bigger role in 2019 as she transitions to outside hitter. All three Ducks were named to the preseason all-Pac-12 team. Oregon will also lean on the leadership of SR OH Taylor Borup, though she's not ready for action yet as she rehabs an injury.

Ducks Boast Plethora of Young Talent
Outside of the Ducks' four returning veterans, the 2019 squad is loaded with talented, yet unproven, young players. The rest of Oregon's roster consists of three redshirt freshmen and seven true freshmen, giving the Ducks 10 players who have yet to play a point in an official NCAA match. RFR S Kylie Robinson and RFR MB Karson Bacon, two of UO's three highest-ranked recruits ever, are poised to make a big impact after redshirting in 2018, and Oregon added RFR MB Abby Hansen from USC to the mix in the middle as well. Oregon's incoming freshman class was ranked No. 7 in the nation and was led by three top-30 recruits in FR OH Taylor Williams (No. 23), FR MB/RS Morgan Lewis (No. 25) and FR L Georgia Murphy (No. 27). Williams and Lewis will likely both see immediate playing time, and Murphy has taken over as the libero with Brooke Nuneviller moving to outside hitter. FR OH Alex Laita (No. 56) and FR S Elise Ferreira (No. 80) were also top-100 recruits, and FR DS Bea Wetton brings depth and stability in the back row. Oregon finalized its roster in early August with the addition of FR OH Jade Sadeiko, a 6'3" native of Estonia who will also be in the mix on the outside.

Up Next
After taking on three top-10 teams in four days, the Ducks will continue east for a match at Princeton (Sept. 17) before going to New York for three matches at the Hofstra Invitational.