Final Week of Nonconference Play Begins Tuesday at Princeton

EUGENE, Ore. - The No. 14 ranked Oregon volleyball team will wrap up the second week of its two-week East Coast trip as well as its 2019 nonconference schedule with four matches this week, beginning Tuesday at 4 p.m. PT against Princeton in New Jersey.

Oregon is coming off a gauntlet of a week in which it played shorthanded against a trio of top-10 teams in No. 6 Pittsburgh, No. 8 Minnesota and No. 4 Penn State. Following their match at Princeton, which will be streamed live on ESPN+, the Ducks will head to Hempstead, N.Y., to close out nonconference play on Thursday and Friday against St John's, Duke and Hofstra in the Hofstra Invitational.

"Last week was a great experience for our team, especially the freshmen," said head coach Matt Ulmer. "I thought we played really good defense all week and we were really in every set we played against three teams now ranked in the top seven ... We're a very young group, especially with Willow (Johnson) out of the lineup, but I was really pleased with a lot of the things that we did. I'm seeing us getting better every day, and that's what we need to do and I think we're going to like where we are at the end of the year if we continue to do that.

"Princeton is a tough place to play and they are a very smart volleyball team. They're not the raw athletes like the ones we saw last week, but they really know how to play the game well and they're going to make you earn everything; there are not many unforced errors on their side ... We're in for another good one. I'm happy we have some more matches (on the East Coast) this week and more chances for this group to keep growing and figure things out. We're looking forward to it."

About Princeton (2-4)
After an 0-3 start to the season, Princeton swept George Mason and Arkansas last weekend before falling to Maryland in five tight sets. The Tigers won three straight Ivy League titles (2015-17) before finishing second in 2018 with a 19-6 season. Princeton is led by Devon Peterkin (3.56 k/s) and Elena Montgomery (3.35 k/s), and Cameron Dames paces the defense with 4.06 d/s. Princeton and UO have not met since 1975.

Ducks Fall Short in First Top-10 Battle
The Ducks battled hard last Wednesday in a four-set loss at No. 6 Pittsburgh, the first of three straight matches against top-10 opponents. Oregon rebounded from a tight 26-24 set one loss to win set two, 25-23, and even the match, but the Ducks were unable to overcome self-inflicted mistakes and a late injury to SR RS Willow Johnson. Johnson (13 K, 10 D) and SO OH Brooke Nuneviller (10 K, 16 D) both notched double-doubles, SR MB Ronika Stone hit .450 with 13 kills and RFR MB Karson Bacon shined defensively with eight blocks, including a whopping four solo.

Shorthanded Ducks Battle, But Drop Two at Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge
Oregon went 0-2 at the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge last weekend after a pair of straight-set losses to No. 8 Minnesota and No. 4 Penn State, but Matt Ulmer's young squad put up strong fights in both matches despite playing without SR RS Willow Johnson, as well as SR OH Taylor Borup, who continues to rehab from injury. Playing eight freshmen around SR MB Ronika Stone and SO OH Brooke Nuneviller, UO had its opporunities against the Gophers, especially in a tight 25-23 set one loss, and the Ducks played well against Penn State in front of a rowdy crowd at Rec Hall. FR L Georgia Murphy was terrific all week, FR OH Taylor Williams had her best match yet against Penn State with 10 kills and both FR MB/RS Morgan Lewis and FR S Elise Ferreira got valuable playing time in big-time situations.

Oregon Remains in AVCA Top 15
The Ducks moved down four spots in the AVCA coaches poll after their 0-3 week against a trio of top-10 teams but remained in the top 15 at No. 14. UO ended 2018 at No. 9 after its thrilling run to the NCAA Elite Eight and opened 2019 at No. 11 before moving to No. 9 in week one and No. 10 in week two.

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 before her career ends after this season. The 2018 second-team all-American is currently second in Oregon history with 345 career block assists, just 44 behind all-time leader Neticia Enesi (389, 2006-10). Stone also ranks seventh all-time with 391 total blocks, sitting 151 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 .357 mark for her career - and she is just 59 kills away from 1,000 in her career and her 1,224.5 career points are only 62.5 away from cracking the UO all-time top 10.

Up Next
The Ducks will wrap their two-week East Coast trip and their 2019 nonconference schedule this weekend with matches against St. John's, Duke and Hofstra at the Hofstra Invitational in Hempstead, N.Y.