Five-Set Battle Sees Ducks Fall Short

Wednesday, October 30

Seattle, WA

6:30 PM

University of Oregon

16-4,8-3Big Ten

Washington

17-4,7-4Big Ten

Oregon

Washington

Photo by: @jamiemitchellimages

10/30/24 | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Oregon tried to rally back from a fifth-set deficit but dropped a thriller in Seattle on Wednesday.

SEATTLE — This time, the Oregon volleyball team couldn't quite summon another late rivalry rally.

Seventeen days after digging out of a fifth-set deficit to beat Washington at Matthew Knight Arena, the No. 10 Ducks couldn't capture the same magic Wednesday. Up a set through three, the UO women dropped the fourth and then fell into a hole in the fifth out of which they couldn't climb.

Oregon (16-4, 8-3 Big Ten) fell by scores of 25-21, 24-26, 20-25, 25-16, 15-10. Back on Oct. 13, the Ducks trailed 10-5 and then 12-9 in the fifth but rallied back to beat the Huskies; on Wednesday the UO women fell behind by those same margins in the fifth, but Washington hung on.

Mimi Colyer had 17 kills to lead Oregon, Onye Ofoegbu added 13 and Noemie Glover finished with 10. The Ducks hit .260 in the match and .050 in the fifth set, with Roberta Purashaj starting her second straight match but Cristin Cline returning from an ankle injury to share time at setter.

How It Happened: The Ducks trailed 7-6 in the opening set before scoring four straight to lead 10-7, the first time either team led by more than a point. With Oregon up 15-13, UW scored six straight to take control; UO coach Matt Ulmer summoned Cline from the bench late in the set, which saw Colyer finish with four kills and the rest of the team combine for five.

Three straight UO points capped by a Colyer ace made it 5-2 early in the second. Washington scored five in a row to lead 10-6, and the lead was four again moments later at 19-15. UO freshman Mia Tvrdy had two blocks as Oregon rallied to a 19-19 tie, and the teams continued to go back and forth with UW taking a late 24-23 lead. But Oregon fought off set point to spark a 3-0 run, winning on a kill by Michelle Ohwobete.

Ohwobete and Ofoegbu had three kills each in that second set, while Colyer and Glover had four each. The Ducks enjoyed similar balance in the third, with Colyer and Ofoegbu tallying four kills, and Glover and Ohwobete recording three each. When it was 14-14 in the third, Oregon scored seven of the next 11, a run that included two kills for Tvrdy and put the Ducks in position to go up two sets to one.

The balance Oregon enjoyed in the two sets it won didn't emerge the rest of the way. Colyer had five kills in the fourth set, helping the Ducks rally from a 19-6 deficit to close within 22-14 and at least regain some rhythm heading into the fifth.

Oregon turned to Cline again after falling behind 5-1 in the fifth. But though the Ducks again rallied to within 12-9 in the fifth set against UW, the Huskies held on to win despite a late injury to Kierstyn Barton, who still finished with a match-high 20 kills.

Up Next: The Ducks return home to host UCLA on Saturday (8 p.m., Big Ten Network).