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Saturday, December 3

Eugene, OR

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

25-5,17-3Pac-12

Arkansas

21-9,11-7SEC

Arkansas

Oregon

Photo by: Isaac Wasserman

12/03/22 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score Box Score: Oregon d Arkansas

Oregon completed a perfect season at home this fall by beating Arkansas on Saturday to advance to the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.

By: Rob Moseley

EUGENE, Ore. — The Oregon volleyball team held serve all season at home. Now the Ducks will head out on the road, to prove they're among the nation's elite.

The No. 9 Ducks on Saturday tied the longest winning streak in program history, completed a perfect season at home and earned a spot in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament next week at Louisville with a second-round win in four sets over Arkansas. The UO women got progressively better throughout the match, hitting .000 while dropping the first set but storming back to win the next three and hitting .613 with zero errors in a dominant fourth set, as they won by scores of 19-15, 25-20, 25-20, 25-9.

"I never think we're going to lose with this team, because we look in each other's eyes and everyone is just on the same page," UO senior Brooke Nuneviller said. "Even when we weren't playing very good in the first set, I wasn't worried going into the second set.

"I had faith at being able to bounce back as we did, because they always do. They always just find a way. And that's what greatness is. So if we can keep that up through the tournament — which I know we will — I think we'll find success."

Playing for the final time in Matthew Knight Arena, Nuneviller had a match-high 19 kills to lead the Ducks to their 15th straight win — matching the UO record set in 1980 — and making them a perfect 14-0 at home this season. Freshman Mimi Colyer added 15 kills, Hannah Pukis had 42 assists with 12 digs, Kiari Robey added seven kills plus seven blocks and Gloria Mutiri had six kills in what was also her final home match with the Ducks.

"The fourth set I definitely took a deep breath, listening to all the students cheer, and the community coming in, and just taking in everything that Eugene has brought this year," Nuneviller said. "Definitely had to hold it in a little bit in the fourth. But I went up to Glo, I think set point, and I was like, 'Let's go, let's finish.' And so, I couldn't have asked for a better way to finish."

How It Happened: It was an ignominious start for the Ducks, who led 7-6 in the first set on Nuneviller's third kill in the early going but then quickly fell behind. Arkansas scored four straight for a 10-7 lead, and after Oregon briefly stopped that run, the Razorbacks ripped off another six straight to make it 16-8. Several attack errors by Nuneviller and Colyer resulted in points for Arkansas later in the set, and the Razorbacks won it 25-19. At that point Oregon's dynamic duo of Nuneviller and Colyer had six kills and eight errors, while the Razorbacks' duo of Taylor Head and Jillian Gillen helped them hit .241 in the set.

"Both of their outsides are really quick arms," UO coach Matt Ulmer said. "So I think it just caught us a lot; we were just a little late (on the block) with our hands. So we were just trying to make that technical change with both Hannah and Gloria, and I thought they both did an excellent job with that."

Oregon's adjustments on both sides of the net paid off in the second set. Nuneviller and Colyer combined for eight kills with just two errors, while Arkansas hit .128. The set was back-and-forth in the early going, but after the Razorbacks took a 9-8 lead, the Ducks scored nine straight points — eight with Pukis at the service line. Oregon didn't lead again by less than six until late in the set, but after Arkansas fought off three set points the Ducks clinched it, 25-20.

"In the beginning they could do no wrong, right?" Ulmer said. "You just want them to doubt a little bit, and then we get a little momentum, we get the good feeling, and then we start going. That (service run) was huge by Hannah. I thought Elise Agi was amazing too, big scoring runs time and time again. I think we had a few people that went back there and did that, but Hannah started it off."

Arkansas won the first five points of the third set, but Oregon chipped away to get within 10-8, then scored five straight. That run to a 13-10 lead included two aces by Colyer, one of which followed an Arkansas timeout that was unable to stop the Ducks' momentum. Later, with Oregon up 17-16, the Ducks scored three straight, and that run also continued despite a timeout by the Razorbacks before the third point. Nuneviller and Colyer each had five kills in the set, against two combined errors, as the Ducks won 25-20.

Over the course of the final three sets, Arkansas called six timeouts during UO scoring runs. Five times, the Ducks scored the first point out of the timeout to maintain momentum.

"Everyone was just doing their job," Mutiri said. "We had them down in a rut, and no one wants to be the one to let them out of it. So, I'm gonna be aggressive with my hands, and I know everyone behind me is going to be doing the same thing — aggressive, doing their job."

Two kills and a solo block by Colby Neal helped Oregon get out to an 8-5 lead in the fourth, before the Ducks absolutely dropped the hammer. It was 8-6 when Colyer had two straight kills out of the back row, sparking an 8-0 run to a 16-6 lead. Colyer had a third back-row attack during the run, Nuneviller had two kills and Robey had a kill plus a solo block. A fourth kill out of the back row by Colyer in the set made it 18-7, and when it was 21-9, Robey had a kill to spark a run of four straight points by the Ducks to clinch the set and the match.

"Kiari was awesome; I mean, that was huge for us," Ulmer said. "Colby was great yesterday; Colby did a great job again today. But they were definitely the two that we needed today."

Notable: Match point was a block by Neal and Colyer, the 15th of the match by the Ducks. That's tied for third by an Oregon team in NCAA Tournament play. … The Ducks advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the eighth time in program history, and first since the 2020 season, played in the spring of 2021. Oregon will look to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 2018, and just the third time in program history. … With 19 digs Saturday, Georgia Murphy surpassed 1,500 in her career. She's the fifth player in program history to reach that milestone. … Karson Bacon's three blocks Saturday gave her 339 in her career, moving her up to ninth in UO history ahead of Mindee Adams (337, 1988-91). Bacon started Saturday's match but wasn't feeling well, Ulmer said, and didn't play in the final two sets.

Quotable:

Senior outside hitter Brooke Nuneviller on what makes the Ducks so dangerous
"We have so many weapons on this team — defensive, offensive, our serving got better as the match went on. I just think it makes all the difference in the world to have so many different weapons. The other team really can't scout and stack on one player with this team, because we'll just have another player do well and do their job. So if one thing opens up for one person, they're gonna take advantage of it."

Head coach Matt Ulmer on the prospect of playing on the road the rest of the postseason
"In the preseason we scheduled to go to the East Coast on purpose just to get used to that, and going and playing at Minnesota and playing some of the big schools. The whole reason for that is now. So that if we're fortunate enough to go play Louisville in that time zone, against those types of teams, and then Omaha (for the Final Four) back to back, that we've done it before, it's not something that's new for us. So you know, I think we've prepared ourselves the best we can."

Up Next: The Ducks will face Nebraska on Thursday in the Sweet Sixteen, at a regional hosted by Louisville.