Road Tests in the Great Lakes State

EUGENE, Ore. – The No. 13 Oregon volleyball team carries its 19-6 record into the penultimate weekend of the regular season which begins Thursday at Michigan State. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m. (PT) at the Breslin Center. The Ducks then travel to Ann Arbor for a Saturday matchup with Michigan.

Both matches will be streamed on B1G+. Oregon is back home next Wed., Nov. 27, to host No. 8 Purdue.

Series History vs Michigan State
Oregon and Michigan State have split the two previous meetings in the short series history. The Spartans notched a four-set victory on their home floor in 2013 with UO returning the favor the following season in Eugene. Outside of conference matches, Oregon and Michigan State have a common opponent in Colorado State with both getting wins in Fort Collins.

Series History vs Michigan
Sunday will be the fifth meeting between Oregon and Michigan, and third on the Wolverines' home floor. The teams first met in 1990--a UO sweep in Boise--before playing three times in a span of four seasons between 2013 and 2016. Most recently, Michigan beat the Ducks in an NCAA second-round match during the 2016 postseason.

Last Time Out
Mimi Colyer (23k, 13d) and Michelle Ohwobete (17k, 12d) tallied double-doubles in a five-set loss at then-No. 23 USC. Oregon won the first two sets and led 12-8 in the third but the Women of Troy rallied for a reverse sweep in Los Angeles (Nov. 17). In the setback, Mackenzie Morris had 24 digs and Onye Ofoegbu registered a career-high 11 blocks. It was Oregon's first loss of the year when holding its opponent under a .200 clip.

Milestone Mack
With her second dig against USC (Nov. 17), senior libero Mackenzie Morris reached 2,000 career digs. She began her career at Kansas State (2020-23). Morris finished the USC match with 24 digs which tied a season high; she also had a season-high seven assists in the five setter. In Big Ten matches only, Morris is sixth among league liberos with 3.79 digs per set.

Blocking It Out
Oregon amassed a season-high 21.0 total team blocks against USC (Nov. 17), eclipsing its previous best of 20 blocks against BYU during the non-conference slate. The effort also marked the second-highest total in UO history during the rally scoring era, trailing only the 23 blocks by the 2006 team against Arizona State. Individually, five Ducks had at least six blocks including a career-high 11 blocks by Onye Ofoegbu.

Steady Lefty
Sophomore opposite Noemie Glover put down a career-high 13 kills at then-No. 23 USC (Nov. 17). She hit .440 in the match with just two errors in 25 swings. It was Glover's sixth outing of the season in double figures, and fifth coupled with a .300 or better hitting percentage. She also had eight blocks in the match.

Oh-WHOA-bete
During last week's matches against Northwestern and at USC, senior outside hitter Michelle Ohwobete recorded 4.94 points per set, 4.11 kills per set and 1.78 digs per set. Ohwobete had a season-high 20 kills and hit .415 on Senior Day against Northwestern. She followed with 17 kills (.275) and 12 digs in a road match at USC. Ohwobete also had five aces last weekend.

How They Rank
With double-digit blocks in three-consecutive matches entering the weekend, Oregon is second in the Big Ten and fifth in the NCAA with 2.96 blocks per set. The Ducks are also inside the top 25 nationally in hitting percentage (24th, .268).

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