No. 14 Ducks Host Oregon Invitational

EUGENE, Ore. – The 54^th season of Oregon Volleyball begins Friday with the No. 14 Ducks hosting the two-day Oregon Invitational at Matthew Knight Arena. The field also includes Portland State, San Jose State and Santa Clara. In its first of two matches Friday, Oregon opens its 2021 campaign against in-state foe Portland State at 1 p.m. (PT).

The Ducks return to the court at 6 p.m. to take on Santa Clara. Both matches Friday will be streamed live on Pac-12 Insider with support of the KWVA (88.1 FM) radio with Ryan Milano and Xavier Aguiar on play-by-play and color commentary.

Oregon is coming off a standout spring campaign that saw the program finish second in the Pac-12 and advance to the Sweet Sixteen for the second time under head coach Matt Ulmer, and for seventh time as a program. The Ducks posted a 15-5 record during the 2021 spring season but are eager for more on the heels of their recent NCAA Tournament experience.

"Now, they're doing it for themselves," Ulmer said. "They're doing it because this is what they want to do and they've bought in. As a coach, it's way more enjoyable to coach that when you're just trying to teach them about volleyball and how to be a point better as opposed to trying to get them motivated to play at a certain level."

2021 Oregon Invitational – Weekend Schedule
Friday, August 27
Match 1: San Jose State (H) vs Santa Clara - 11 a.m.
Live Stats: http://statb.us/b/365235

Match 2: Oregon vs Portland State - 1 p.m.
Watch: https://pac-12.com/live/university-oregon
Live Stats: http://statb.us/b/361912

Match 3: Oregon vs Santa Clara - 6 p.m.
Watch: https://pac-12.com/live/university-oregon
Live Stats: http://statb.us/b/361913

Saturday, August 28
Match 4: Portland State (H) vs Santa Clara - 11 a.m.
Live Stats: http://statb.us/b/365237

Match 5: Oregon vs San Jose State - 1 p.m.
Watch: https://pac-12.com/live/university-oregon
Live Stats: http://statb.us/b/361914

The Ducks enter the season as the No. 14 team in the country. Among Pac-12 teams, Oregon trails only Washington—No. 4—and is one of six conference teams in the preseason top 25: Washington, Oregon, UCLA (17), Washington State (18), Utah (19) and Stanford (21). USC and Arizona were receiving votes in the preseason release.

Oregon was picked to finish third in the Pac-12 by the league's head coaches while individually, Brooke Nuneviller, earned preseason conference honors for a third time in her career. Nuneviller was named to the AVCA All-America Second Team after averaging 3.46 kills per set and 4.04 digs per set in the spring.

The Ducks return four all-conference performances from last season with Nuneviller and Gloria Mutiri (2.57 k/s, .264 pct.) who were both named to the All-Pac-12 Team, while middle blocker Karson Bacon (1.88 k/s, .349 pct.) and libero Georgia Murphy (3.57 d/s) each earned honorable mention recognition.

In a show of the team's offensive depth, Morgan Lewis led the Ducks during the NCAA Tournament with 3.71 kills per set coupled with a .353 hitting percentage in the two postseason matches. She ended the season on a bit of a tear, hitting .314 with 2.61 kills per set in the final nine matches of Oregon's spring season.

Oregon will look to continue its recent dominance in its series with Portland State having won 11 of the past 12 matches dating back to the 2004 season. The teams last played in 2018, a 3-0 sweep for UO in Eugene. Then a freshman and full-time libero, Nuneviller had 12 digs in the match to lead all players.

The Ducks haven't played Santa Clara, Friday's second opponent, since the 2014 season. Oregon owns a 9-4-1 advantage in the all-time series. In a series that dates back to 1979, the two teams have only faced off twice (2010, '14) during the rally-scoring era.

For more news and information about the Ducks, follow @OregonVB on Instagram and Twitter, and @OregonVolleyball on Facebook.