University of Oregon
23-5,17-3Pac-12
Oregon State
7-23,2-18Pac-12
Senior Night Features Rivalry Sweep
11/25/22 | Women's Volleyball
Oregon capped a 12-0 regular season at home with a sweep of Oregon State on Friday.
EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon volleyball program celebrated its senior class and an unbeaten home record Friday at Matthew Knight Arena, closing out the regular season with an emphatic sweep of rival Oregon State.
Brooke Nuneviller had 11 kills on .611 hitting, Gloria Mutiri hit .615 with nine kills and their fellow senior Karson Bacon had six kills with five blocks to help the Ducks post a 25-13, 25-14, 25-9 victory over the Beavers. Freshman Mimi Colyer also had 11 kills, Georgia Murphy had five of the Ducks' season-high 14 services aces and Hannah Pukis had 35 assists with three blocks.
"What a great way for the seniors to go out," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "They were amazing, all had great games, and the crowd was awesome, provided great energy. Just a great way to end this regular season, and we're really excited for Sunday."
The No. 10 Ducks (23-5, 17-3 Pac-12) will find out their NCAA Tournament seeding Sunday, hoping to host opening round matches at Matthew Knight Arena next weekend. Oregon was a perfect 12-0 at home in the regular season, the Ducks on Friday won their 13th straight match overall for the program's longest winning streak since 2012, and they set a program record with their 17th Conference win.
"We just need to keep doing what we've been doing," Ulmer said. "We're getting better every day, and that's all you want. We're playing our best volleyball, and we just want to keep doing that."
How It Happened: Bacon was an early catalyst on her senior night, with a kill to get Oregon out to a 4-1 lead in the opening set and another to make it 7-5. The Ducks were up 12-9 when they took command of the set by scoring six in a row, with two more kills for Bacon and a block by Colyer and Bacon during the run. An ace by Daley McClellan capped a three-point burst to a 21-10 lead, and Nuneviller had back-to-back kills to clinch the set.
Mutiri set the tone in the second set, with two kills as Oregon again opened with a 4-1 lead; that early outburst also included aces from Nuneviller and Elise Agi. The Beavers fought to a 7-6 lead before Nuneviller got Oregon back in front for good with consecutive kills, and an ace by Murphy made it 9-7. It was 10-9 when a kill by Kiari Robey put the serve back in Nuneviller's hand, and she didn't give it up until it was 16-9. Consecutive blocks by the tandem of Bacon and Pukis made it 22-12, an ace by Colyer got it to set point and Nuneviller again had the clinching kill.
The Ducks were all business in the third set, scoring the first eight points and getting the lead to 12-1 on yet another block by Bacon and Pukis. Murphy had three more aces during the 8-0 run to open the set, and later she had yet another to make it 21-8. Another ace by Agi got the lead to 23-9, and her fourth and final ace of the night clinched the sweep for Oregon.
What It Means: Oregon was 17-3 in Pac-12 play for the first time ever, two games behind Stanford in their quest for the first conference title in program history.
"I've asked these guys from day one, just give your best and it's going to get us where it gets us," Ulmer said. "We were in contention for a title. It's our best Pac-12 record ever. This is a great team, and I'm just hopeful we continue to do that in the playoffs."
Up Next: The Ducks find out their NCAA Tournament seeding Sunday (4:30 p.m., ESPNU).
