Ducks Post First-Round Sweep

Friday, December 2

Eugene, OR

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

24-5,17-3Pac-12

Loyola Marymount

18-10,13-5WCC

LMU (CA)

Oregon

Photo by: Molly McPherson

12/02/22 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score

Oregon won its opening match of this year's NCAA Tournament over Loyola Marymount in three sets Friday, and will host Arkansas on Saturday.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon volleyball team remained perfect at home this season and matched the second-longest winning streak in program history Friday, when the Ducks opened the 2022 NCAA Tournament with a first-round sweep of Loyola Marymount before 3,474 fans in Matthew Knight Arena.

Oregon advanced to face Arkansas in the second round on Saturday night, also at home. The Ducks will bring an unblemished 13-0 record in Matthew Knight Arena this season into that match, after Friday's 25-17, 25-22, 25-15 sweep.

The Ducks have now won 14 straight matches, one short of the school record set in 1980 and matching win streaks from 2012 and 2010. The UO women won a first-round match for the first time since 2018, and put behind them a first-round tournament loss to Kansas in three sets last fall.

"We went in there confident, ready to go, just really focusing on our side of the net," UO senior Brooke Nuneviller said. "Looking at everyone's eyes, it was just the exact same (as the regular season), which is just so encouraging for us."

Nuneviller had 13 kills with 11 digs for her 20th double-double of the season, while hitting .393. Freshman Mimi Colyer also had 13 kills, including six in the decisive third set. Colby Neal added six kills with five blocks for her most productive match since early in Pac-12 play, and both Karson Bacon and Gloria Mutiri added five kills each.

"Brooke had a nice matchup and she was scoring for us early on, and then we got the matchup with Mimi in the third and she carried more of a load there," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "They both had a great offensive match. But I think again, what makes us tough is that you can't just lean on one. You have to really respect everybody."

How It Happened: After falling behind 3-1 in the opening set, the Ducks ripped off six straight points to force a timeout by the Lions. Colyer had two kills out of the back row during that 6-0 run, and Nuneviller had a kill and a block for a point. A kill by Karson Bacon and another by Neal got the lead out to 17-9, and back-to-back kills from Neal and Nuneviller made it 19-10. Three kills in a row by Mutiri, Colyer and Bacon put Oregon up 23-14, and Nuneviller ultimately finished out the set with a kill out of the back row.

"Our group is real tough; it's a really tough group," Ulmer said. "(Nuneviller) shows you, and they all follow that lead. I'm just proud of them for how much it means to them, how much it means to them to be good, and represent the university the way they do. Just proud of the group."

LMU scored four straight early in the second set for a 6-5 lead, before Oregon tied it with a side out. An ace by Nuneviller put the Ducks in front, and Neal then team with Colyer and Mutiri on consecutive blocks to make it a run of four straight by Oregon. Nuneviller had a couple of typically breathtaking hustle plays for digs on Oregon's next two points, and her kill made it 15-12. After LMU rallied within 16-15, the Ducks again scored four straight with a back-row attack by Colyer, two kills by Neal, and a block by Mutiri and Neal. LMU ultimately fended off set point four times before Hannah Pukis ended the set with a solo block.

"We're so blessed to have four great middles," Ulmer said. "Reagan (Hope) has been hurt … but right now we have Karson, Colby and Kiari (Robey), and they're all healthy finally at the same time. They are all a little bit different, which I've said before. Colby just does a really great job with block touches, and they were a really fast offense. They tried to work the block a ton. So I thought maybe we didn't need the offense as much with Kiari, generally what she's been bringing. We needed Colby's blocking presence more, and boy did she deliver — and she had some really nice swings on top of that, too. So that was great to see."

Colyer had two kills as Oregon took an early 3-1 lead in the third set, and three more as the set progressed to earn sideouts after LMU fought into the lead and looked to protect it. But Colyer's sixth kill in the first half of the set gave Oregon the lead for good at 11-10, and with the Ducks up 12-11 they ripped off four straight to take command. Neal capped another four-point run with a kill to make it 22-13, and Nuneviller finished off the sweep with her 13th kill of the night.

Notable: Oregon hit .351 as a team, the fifth-best mark in program history for an NCAA Tournament match. … The 1980 team won 15 straight matches during a 41-16-1 campaign while playing in the Northwest Volleyball League. … The 2012 and 2010 teams each began their seasons with 14 straight victories, the longest winning streaks in the Pac-10/12 era for the Ducks.

Quotable:

UO coach Matt Ulmer on the atmosphere in the arena Friday
"Love the environment. Love the crowd, love how many fans, how many students we got out; that was really neat. And that was a cool atmosphere to have for playoffs. Really proud of our group for being how tough they are and going ahead and getting this thing off right."

UO redshirt freshman Colby Neal on stepping up when called upon
"I've been working every day, and we all push each other really hard (in practice) whether we're on the A side or the B side. We all just want to make each other better. Definitely being called upon was amazing. And I just wanted to make sure I could do everything for the team that I could, whether that was blocking or hitting."

Up Next: The Ducks host Arkansas in Matthew Knight Arena on Saturday (7 p.m., ESPN+).