Ducks Sweep SLU in NCAA Opener

Thursday, November 30

Eugene, OR

7:00 PM

University of Oregon

27-5,16-4Pac-12

Southeastern Louisiana

28-5,17-1Southland

Southeastern La.

Oregon

Team huddle celebration vs Southeastern Louisiana - Nov. 30

Photo by: Molly McPherson

11/30/23 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Oregon advances to play Hawai'i in Friday's second round at 7 p.m.

EUGENE, Ore. — The No. 2 seeded Oregon volleyball team swept Southeastern Louisiana (25-16, 25-13, 25-13) in first-round action Thursday night at Matthew Knight Arena. With the win, the Ducks advance to play Hawai'i on Friday for a spot in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. First serve is set for 7 p.m. and the match will be streamed on ESPN+ and through the ESPN app.

Oregon posted a .385 hitting percentage in the straight-set win, good for No. 2 on the program's NCAA Tournament top-10 list. Thursday's performance marked the Ducks' 16 time this season hitting .300 or higher. Sophomore Mimi Colyer led the way with 11 kills while hitting .435 against the Lady Lions.

Elise Ferreira served up three aces, including a service winner to secure the first set. Defensively, the Ducks limited Southeastern to a .000 hitting percentage; the Southland Conference champion entered the night with a .275 season figure.

How It Happened: Oregon won seven of the first 10 points but SLU (28-5) answered by winning nine of the next 11 points to take a 12-9 on a block. The home team steadied to lead 15-14 at the media break, and kept the pressure on for the remainder of the set. From 14-all, the Ducks ended the first frame on a 12-2 run, clinching the 1-0 match lead after back-to-back aces by Ferreira.

The early stages of the second set featured back-and-forth play before Oregon used a quick four-point surge to take a 13-8 lead and forced Southeastern to call a timeout. The Ducks doubled up SLU, 20-10, after a block by Karson Bacon and Hannah Pukis. The team ended the second set with consecutive kills from Kara McGhee and Colyer.

Holding on to a narrow two-point lead at 9-7 in the third, Oregon won four of the next five to create separation on the score for a 13-8 advantage after another kill by McGhee. Another run of points, this time a 5-0 push, pushed the lead to 18-9 and forced the visitors to use their final timeout of the night. With just over 3,000 fans on their feet at MKA, consecutive Southeastern attack errors put a bow on a first-round victory for the Ducks.

McGhee had six kills in Thursday's match followed by a trio of Ducks—Bacon, Gabby Gonzales and Morgan Lewis—with five kills each. Pukis finished the night with 30 assists, eight digs and four kills.

Cicily Hidalgo and Kailin Newsome paced Southeastern with seven kills apiece.

Notable: Oregon and Hawai'i met in late August in the third season of the match for both teams. The Ducks came away with the 3-0 road win. It will be the third NCAA Tournament meeting between the programs (1984, 2006; split 1-1). Ferreira becomes the 11^th Duck with at least three aces in an NCAA Tournament match, and the first to do so since Becca Morse during the 2021 spring tournament.

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